US open: Stocks continue decline despite strong jobs report
US stocks recorded early losses at the bell on Friday as investors digested the latest monthly non-farm payrolls data and looked ahead to a raft of comments from Federal Reserve heads.
As of 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.10% at 25,311.03, while the S&P 500 was 3.31% weaker at 2,923.84 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 3.17% softer at 8,462.02.
The Dow opened 810.25 points lower after recording heavy losses during the previous session as US stocks followed Europe's lead and headed south.
Airline stocks were still under pressure as market participants were still trying to decipher what the short- and long term impacts of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak on the global economy and corporate profits would be.
CMC Markets' analyst Michael Hewson said: "As yields plunge across the world the coronavirus has effected a stampede for the exits in the fashion of someone shouting fire in a crowded theatre, as havens surge and yields plunge. This week's market gyrations have been something to behold, with record low yields in bond markets set on a daily basis, and signal an investor community that is genuinely fearful of the potential economic hit this virus might have on company revenues and profit margins.
"In a month where airline, travel and banking stocks had already had a bad start, we've seen these declines accelerate this week. There seems to be an increasingly inverse relationship between the rise in new cases of coronavirus being reported, to the speed of the falls in the share prices of stocks in these sectors, as fears about further sharp increases in cases weigh on investor sentiment."
Donald Trump also said he was considering enforcing further controls at its southern border in order to combat the outbreak, reigniting tensions surrounding migration into the States from Mexico.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note tumbled below 0.7% for the first time ever as investors continued to turn to safer assets amid fears regarding the outbreak. The USD was also on the defensive as risk aversion continued to dominate as global cases of the coronavirus topped 100,000 - with at least 3,383 deaths globally.
On the macro front, US non-farm payrolls in February blew the doors off analysts' estimates.
According to the Department of Labor, hiring jumped by 273,000 last month, easily surpassing the median forecast on the Street for an increase of 175,000.
Elsewhere, the US foreign trade balance came in at -$45.3bn in January, according to the Census Bureau - just ahead of the $-46.1bn estimated by economists
Still to come, consumer credit numbers for January will be published at 2000 GMT.
Federal Reserve heads Esther George, John Williams, Eric Rosengren, James Bullard, Charles Evans and Loretta Mester will all make comments throughout the course of the day.
No major corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Friday.