Markets Right Now: Weak hiring number weighs on stocks

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on developments in financial markets (all times local):

___

9:35 a.m.

Stocks are opening broadly lower on Wall Street after the U.S. government reported that hiring fell sharply last month.

Technology companies and banks led the way lower in early trading Friday. Microsoft fell 1.2 percent and Citigroup lost 1.3 percent.

Energy companies fell along with the price of crude oil, which slumped 3 percent to just under $55 a barrel. Chevron fell 1.9 percent.

The S&P 500 fell 23 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,724. At the end of a lousy week the benchmark is headed for its first weekly loss since January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 208 points, or 0.8 percent, to 25,267. The Nasdaq declined 78 points, or 1.1 percent, to 7,341.

Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.64 percent.