Dow Jones Industrial Hits Lowest Level In A Month; Market Battered Amid Strong Jobs Report

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at its lowest level in nearly a month Friday even as Apple Inc. AAPL got set to join the blue-chip index on March 18.

The index of 30 companies, selected to reflect the U.S. economy, dropped 1.54 percent Friday, slightly outpacing the S&P 500's 1.42 percent decline. The Nasdaq Composite index was off 1.11 percent.

Stocks in general were hurt Friday by a stronger-than-expected jobs report, which raised fears of an interest-rate hike later this year.

The far-larger S&P saw its steepest two-day slide since January earlier this week, and Bloomberg reported that investors have cashed out nearly $17 billion from exchange-traded funds tracking U.S. stocks since the beginning of the year.

At the same time, a like amount of cash got socked away in bonds according to Bloomberg, which called the divergence "the biggest ever in quarterly data going back to 2000."

Posted In: NewsAfter-Hours CenterMarkets
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