US Markets

Investors dumped stocks and sent Treasury yields to record lows Friday as a dismal jobs report renewed fears of a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 253.31 points, or 2.2%, to 11240.26, falling by triple digits for a second-straight day. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 30.45 points, or 2.53%, to 1173.97, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 65.71 points, or 2.58%, to 2480.33. Financial stocks led the broad retreat, with Bank of America plunging 8.3% to lead the Dow decliners after The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. regulators asked the Dow component to show what measures it could take if conditions for the bank worsened. Bank of America is now down 46% this year. J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs Group declined 4.6% each after reports that the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is preparing to sue some of the nation's largest banks over soured mortgage bonds in a bid to recoup billions of dollars in losses from the failed investments. Hewlett-Packard also suffered, falling 5.2% to bring its slide this year to 42%. All 10 sectors of the S&P 500 and all 30 of the Dow components finished in negative territory, with all but seven of the S&P 500 stocks falling. The losses put the Dow and the S&P 500 into negative territory for the week, following a four-day winning streak. At the center of investors' worries on Friday was the struggling U.S. economy, which failed to add jobs for the first time in almost a year as the unemployment rate remained stuck at 9.1%. The dismal August nonfarm payrolls report was the worst result since September 2010, and fell well short of expectations for 80,000 jobs as the government continued to shed jobs. With the sharp declines, investor attention turned toward the Federal Reserve as well as President Barack Obama, who is set to deliver a new jobs plan Thursday.

European Markets

European shares ended lower Friday, extending losses after weak U.S. jobs data added to worries over Greece, with Deutsche Bank AG falling after a report that the U.S. will sue several banks. The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 3% to close at 231.88, extending an earlier fall after U.S. data showed zero growth in jobs in August and an unemployment rate that remained stuck at 9.1%. Among stocks on the move in Europe, shares in Deutsche Bank dropped 5.9% in Frankfurt, helping pull the DAX 30 index down 3.4% to finish at 5,538.33. The fall came after the New York Times reported that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is preparing to sue more than a dozen banks, including the German lender, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities. Other bank stocks were also sharply lower, especially those with exposure to troubled European economies after talks between the Greek government and international lenders were suspended following disagreement over Greece's ability to meet deficit-reduction goals. Shares in France's Credit Agricole SA fell 7.4%, Banco Santander SA dropped 4.8% in Madrid and Piraeus Bank SA slumped 6.3% in Athens. The Greek ASE Composite index dropped 4% to 891.93. Outside the financial sector, shares of AstraZeneca dropped 3.7% in London after the drug maker said a trial of its Crestor drug against Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor failed to show a statistically significant difference in terms of efficacy. The FTSE 100 index dropped 2.3% to 5,292.03. Oil stocks were lower across the board as worries about the weakening global economy weighed on crude oil futures. Shares in BP led the sector lower, tumbling 3.6%. Car makers and technology stocks were also some of the weakest performers in Europe as the worsening economic outlook weighed on cyclical stocks. Shares in PSA Peugeot Citroen fell 6% in Paris, helping pull the CAC 40 index down 3.6% to settle at 3,148.53.

Asian Markets

Asian stock markets ended lower Friday, with sharp losses for technology and resource stocks, as investors showed caution ahead of the key U.S. jobs report due later in the global day. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 1.2% at 8950.74, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.7% to 1867.75, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.8% to 20212.91 and China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.1% to 2528.28. In contrast, India's Sensex gained 0.9% to 16821.46. Technology firms fell sharply in Tokyo trading, with Sony handing back the previous session's gains to end down 4.3%, while TDK slipped 4.7% and Toshiba shed 3.9%. LG Electronics dropped 2.6% in Seoul. In Hong Kong, Internet stocks added recent losses, with Alibaba.com down 0.3% and Tencent Holdings 0.2% lower. Auto makers were pressured by news that U.S. sales of cars made by Toyota Motor and Honda Motor were down in August. Shares in Toyota declined 1.6% and Honda fell 2% in Tokyo. Japanese retailers also lost ground, with J. Front Retailing down 4%, and Marui Group off by 4.4%. In Hong Kong, Esprit Holdings tumbled 10% after saying it foresees a significant drop in its fiscal-year profit, due mainly to restructuring costs. Galaxy Entertainment Group also underperformed, losing 5.3%, after London based private equity firm Permira sold down its stake in the Macau casino operator. Resource stocks weakened across Asia. In Hong Kong, Aluminium Corp of China fell 4.9%, China Coal Energy was down 3.6% and Jiangxi Copper shed 3.7%.

Commodities

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed in negative territory Friday, although they were off session lows, as a weak U.S. jobs report weighed on sentiment and traders squared their books ahead of the Labor Day long weekend in the U.S. LME three-month copper closed the session down 0.8% at $9,075 a metric ton, pressured by a weaker euro and sagging equity markets. That was off a low for the session of $9,018/ton. Crude oil futures fell 2.8% to $86.45 a barrel Friday as fresh concerns over a stagnating U.S. economy trumped worries over a tropical storm disrupting oil output in the key U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Prices mustered a recovery from the session lows as a storm bearing down on the Gulf Coast refining region was upgraded to Tropical Storm Lee. The storm shut in nearly half of oil output in the Gulf and one-third of the region's natural gas output, as companies evacuated production facilities. Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $2.48 a barrel lower at $86.45 a barrel, after trading in a range of $85.42-$88.99. The price was the lowest in a week, while the decline was the biggest since Aug. 18. ICE October Brent crude settled 1.7%, or $1.96 lower, at $112.33 a barrel. Gold futures climbed to within striking distance of the previous week's record highs as a weaker than expected reading on the U.S. labor market spurred investors to buy the metal as a store of wealth. The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, rose $47.80, or 2.6%, to settle at $1,876.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the second highest ending price for the most-active contract behind the record of $1,891.90 reached Aug. 22.