Jobs report sends US Treasury yields higher; S&P 500 slips

New York (Jun 8)  A burst of hiring last month led to a drop in the bond market on Friday as traders placed bets that the Federal Reserve will raise short-term interest rates later this year. Despite the good economic news, the stock market drifted to another loss, finishing lower for the second week in a row.

The Labor Department reported that U.S. employers added 280,000 workers to their payrolls in May. It also tweaked its estimate of hiring in March and April, adding a net 32,000 jobs to the two totals.

Traders reacted immediately to the report; prices of U.S. government bonds dropped, and yields shot up. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note bounced to a 2015 high of 2.43 percent, before drifting back to 2.41 percent.

Meanwhile, major stock indexes finished mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 56.12 points, to 17,849.46.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3.01 points, to 2,092.83, while the Nasdaq edged up 9.33 points, to 5,068.46.

Source: Dispatch.com