Midday Report: US Stocks Slump, Treasury Yields Dive to 10-Week Low After November Jobs Growth Hits Weakest Pace in 2021

US stocks gave up early gains and government bond yields dropped after November employment report showed the economy added fewer than half the number of jobs that the market had anticipated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 34,467.11, with S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite 2.5% lower after midday on Friday.

Technology, consumer discretionary, and financials were among the worst performers, while consumer staples and utilities led gainers.

The 10-year US Treasury yield dived 6.9 basis points to 1.38%, the lowest level in about two-and-a-half months.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 210,000, below the 550,000 jump anticipated in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, while October payrolls saw an upward revision to 546,000. The poll was carried out over Nov. 7-13, two weeks before the omicron variant was reported.

"This is disappointing," Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Economist Ian Shepherdson said in a note, pointing out weakness across the services sector. However, Shepherdson continued to believe that the Fed will announce a faster tapering on Dec. 15, "unless the scientific news on the omicron variant over the next couple weeks is disastrous."

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose by $0.3 to $66.77 a barrel, after trading up more than $1 earlier in the session. On Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers led by Russia, an alliance known as OPEC+, agreed to stick to their joint policy of 0.4-million barrel per day of monthly supply increases. US recently piled pressure on the world's largest oil cartel to continue adding supply to keep oil and gasoline prices from spiraling higher.

The World Health Organization reportedly said Friday that omicron has been detected in 38 countries, up from 23 two days ago, with early data suggesting the strain is more contagious than delta.

In company news, DocuSign's DOCU revenue guidance came in lighter than expected as demand slowed after six quarters of acceleration, prompting the Electronic signatures firm to respond by investing aggressively in its salesforce. Shares plunged 40% intraday, the steepest decliner on Nasdaq.

The biggest gainer on the index was Marvell Technology MRVL, whose shares surged 18%. The company's end-to-end platform approach to core cloud, 5G and auto supports long-term structural growth following its "break-out" Q3 results and outlook, Oppenheimer said in a note to clients on Friday.

In the metals markets, gold was up 1.1% to $1,781.90. Silver was also up 0.7% to $22.47 an ounce while copper was down 1% to $4.26 per pound. Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund was down 0.2% to $48.21 and the United States Natural Gas Fund was up 2.8% to $13.83.