US open: Stocks in the red after strong jobs report for September

Wall Street was trading on a slightly mixed note but off its session lows following an unexpectedly sharp drop in the country's jobless rate alongside a sharp pick-up in earnings growth.

At 1446 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was drifting lower by 0.06% or 14.21 points to 22,761.18, alongside a dip of 0.14% or 3.56 points on the S&P 500 to 2,548.51 while the Nasdaq Composite was flat at 6,585.63.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was higher by five basis points at 2.39%.

On Thursday, the DJIA closed at a record level for the 56th time this year. Meanwhile, the S&P notched its sixth straight record close and 43rd this year.

Although non-farm payrolls in the US shrank unexpectedly in September, dropping by 33,000, the first negative reading for seven years, unemployment fell from 4.4% to 4.2% - the lowest reading since January 2001.

Furthermore, wage growth accelerated to a 0.5% month-on-month clip (consensus: 0.3%), the Department of Labor said.

"Overall, this was a mixed report, with a much stronger-than-expected drag from the hurricanes in September, but at the same time, the unemployment rate fell unexpectedly and earnings growth was more robust than anticipated. We think that the FOMC will want to separate noise from signal and will likely interpret the weakness as temporary and driven by special factors," said Blerina Uruci and Pooja Sriram at Barclays Research.

Aside from the data, investors were also watch for speeches later in the day by Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan, New York Fed chief William Dudley and St Louis Fed boss James Bullard.

In remarks to CNBC earlier in the day, Kaplan reportedly said he was still undecided about whether to tighten policy in December.

On the corporate front, Costco Wholesale was a big faller even after it posted worse than expected quarterly profits and earnings.

From a sector standpoint, distillers were doing best, gaining 3.07%, alongside gains of 1.62% the Coal index and of 1.51% for non-ferrous metals.

Netflix shares on the other hand were little changed despite announcing it was raising the price of its two-screen high definition subscription from $9.99 to $10.99 and that for being able to watch on four screens and in ultra-high definition from $11.99 to $13.99.

Meanwhile, just before the opening bell Kellogg said it would acquire Rxbar for $600m

Elsewhere, Yum Brands spin-off Yum China Holdings was also in focus after announcing its first dividend and an increased share buyback plan.

Stock in data operator Switch was rocketing 44% on its first day of trading.

Dow Jones - Risers

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $125.00 0.45%
American Express Co. (AXP) $91.55 0.43%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $159.47 0.42%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $198.71 0.41%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $97.34 0.26%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $33.67 0.24%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $246.55 0.20%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $52.27 0.17%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $36.06 0.15%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $64.68 0.12%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.07 -1.41%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $117.64 -0.79%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.39 -0.72%
General Electric Co. (GE) $24.39 -0.63%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $78.96 -0.57%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.57 -0.55%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $154.92 -0.30%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $45.40 -0.27%
Boeing Co. (BA) $258.21 -0.26%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $75.89 -0.11%

S&P 500 - Risers

Motorola Solutions Inc (MSI) $89.01 3.50%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $85.55 2.36%
United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) $65.75 2.22%
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $36.23 2.06%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $155.27 1.95%
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) $45.99 1.80%
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) $58.49 1.74%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $8.81 1.73%
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) $75.80 1.64%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $51.35 1.57%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $157.87 -5.51%
Iron Mountain Inc (New) (IRM) $37.80 -3.10%
Hess Corp. (HES) $44.38 -2.48%
Frontier Communications Co. (FTR) $11.88 -2.30%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $10.30 -2.28%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $35.24 -2.18%
Kansas City Southern (KSU) $105.16 -2.09%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $89.90 -1.98%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.22 -1.98%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $14.46 -1.97%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $85.55 2.36%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $116.20 2.32%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $155.27 1.95%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $51.35 1.57%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $62.37 1.38%
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $95.32 0.95%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $149.39 0.93%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $107.83 0.90%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $58.93 0.89%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $467.08 0.79%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $157.87 -5.51%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class A (LILA) $24.71 -2.56%
Liberty Global Plc Lilac Class C (LILAK) $24.58 -2.29%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $61.36 -1.75%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $144.64 -1.58%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $75.89 -1.38%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $73.77 -1.28%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $151.84 -0.98%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $79.02 -0.82%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $95.79 -0.82%