Major Averages Slide Firmly Into The Red In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Stocks have moved mostly lower in early trading on Friday, giving back some ground after ending the two previous sessions sharply higher. The major averages have slid into negative territory after opening the day roughly flat.

The early weakness that has emerged on Wall Street comes following the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report.

While a bigger than expected increase in employment contributed to a drop in the unemployment rate, the report also showed a slowdown in wage growth.

The mixed data has led to some uncertainty about the outlook for monetary policy, leading some traders to cash in on the recent gains.

Negative sentiment has also been generated by a modest pullback by the price of crude oil, with crude for February delivery sliding $0.32 to $48.47 a barrel.

The drop in prices is contributing to considerable weakness among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss being posted by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index.

Financial, steel and retail stocks are also under pressure in early trading, while gold stocks are showing a substantial move to the upside.

In recent trading, the major averages have seen some further downside, hitting new lows for the young session. The Dow is down 118.33 points or 0.6 percent at 17,789.54, the Nasdaq is down 24.57 points or 0.5 percent at 4,711.61 and the S&P 500 is down 12.64 points or 0.6 percent at 2,049.50.