NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks on Friday finished lower despite a solid US jobs report and generally good corporate earnings as investors took a cautious stance after Thursday's rout.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 69.93 points (0.42 percent) at 16,493.37.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 5.52 (0.29 percent) to 1,925.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 17.13 (0.39 percent) at 4,352.64.
All three indices rallied from their intra-session lows, with the Dow having fallen to 16,437.07 at midday.
US stocks fell about two percent Thursday in a battering that eliminated the Dow's 2014 gains.
"How many people want to jump in the day after we have a 300-point-plus loss in the Dow?" said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P Capital IQ. Stovall said some investors fear a long-awaited correction may be afoot.
European stock markets finished sharply lower for a second day running, with the German DAX sinking 2.10 percent, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index falling 0.76 percent and France's CAC 40 tumbling 1.02 percent.
The Labor Department reported that the US economy added 209,000 jobs in July, down from June but maintaining the solid 200,000-plus monthly streak since February.
Procter & Gamble scored the day's biggest gains in the Dow, rising 3.0 percent after reporting a 38 percent rise in quarterly earnings to $2.6 billion and announcing a plan to shed 90-100 underperforming brands.
Chevron dipped 1.0 percent, despite reporting second-quarter earnings of $2.98 per share, 32 cents better than analyst expectations. The petroleum giant said oil and gas production fell 1.2 percent.
Financial stocks were hit with selloffs: Citigroup (-1.7 percent), JPMorgan Chase (-2.1 percent) and Morgan Stanley (-2.3 percent).
Scientific Games, a big player in lottery systems and other gaming businesses, signed a deal to acquire Bally Technologies, which makes slot machines and other gaming equipment, in a transaction valued at $5.1 billion the companies announced.
Scientific Games said the deal will enhance its product offerings and provide better exposure to Australia and Asia and some other markets. Scientific Games gained 2.7 percent, while Bally surged 29.1 percent higher.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury dropped to 2.50 percent from 2.56 percent Thursday, while the 30-year dipped to 3.30 percent from 3.31 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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