NEW YORK: US stocks sank in opening trade Monday, reacting for the first time to disappointing job market data released Friday when the markets were closed.
In the first five minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dived 137.51 points (1.05 percent) to 12,922.63.
The broad-market S&P 500 shed 17.15 points (1.23 percent) to 1,380.93, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 39.24 points (1.27 percent) to 3,041.26.
The sell-off "is understandable" after the government reported Friday the economy created a meager 120,000 jobs in March, well below analyst forecasts of 200,000, said Dick Green at Briefing.com.
"That was indeed a disappointment and while still a solid increase, reduces the underlying optimism towards the economic outlook that had been created by three straight prior months of in excess of 200,000," he said.
US and major European markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday.
Many European bourses and some Asian markets, including Hong Kong, also were closed on Monday.
US stocks finished mixed Thursday, with the Dow down 0.11 percent, the Nasdaq up 0.40 percent and S&P 500 flat.
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