US open: Stocks sinks on shock payrolls drop, surging oil prices

Major indices were firmly in the red early on Friday after February's non‑farm payrolls report delivered an unexpected downside surprise and Donald Trump called for the unconditional surrender of Iran.

As of 1450 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.82% at 47,081.74, while the S&P 500 shed 1.44% to 6,732.58 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 1.36% at 22,439.23.

The Dow opened 873.00 points lower on Friday, extending heavy losses recorded in the previous session.

Friday's primary focus will be news that the US economy shed 92,000 jobs in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest decline in four months and a sharp miss when compared to expectations for a 59,000 gain. Revisions further weakened the picture, with December's figure cut by 65,000, turning a previously reported gain into a 17,000 loss, while January was revised down by 4,000 to 126,000. Across December and January, revisions left payrolls lower by 69,000 than earlier estimates. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in February, up from 4.3% in January, while the labour force participation rate declined to 62% from 62.1%.

Oil prices also continued to draw investor attention, ticking up again early on Friday as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains on hold, with West Texas Intermediate up 9.0% at $88.30 per barrel, while Brent crude was 6.33% higher at $90.82 a barrel, putting crude prices on a course for their biggest weekly percentage gain in four years. Friday's rally in oil prices came after Donald Trump said he was not looking to strike a deal to end the US-Iran war without an "unconditional surrender" from the Middle Eastern nation.

Seperately, Qatar's energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told the Financial Times that Gulf energy producers could be forced to call force majeure in the coming days, a move that could send oil to as much as $150 a barrel. He warned that the conflict in the Middle East could "bring down the economies of the world."

"If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted," said al-Kaabi. "Everybody's energy price is going to go higher. There will be shortages of some products and there will be a chain reaction of factories that cannot supply."

Elsewhere on the macro front, retail sales slipped 0.2% in January, according to the Census Bureau, easing back after a flat reading at the end of 2025 and broadly in line with expectations for a 0.3% decline. It marked the first monthly drop since October. On an annualised basis, retail sales were still 3.2% higher than a year earlier.

Still to come, December business inventories numbers will follow at 1500 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $34.15 3.97%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $285.45 0.84%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $411.72 0.81%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $192.03 0.76%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $201.14 0.32%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $255.11 0.14%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $0.00 0.00%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $50.89 -0.27%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $683.50 -4.11%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $284.52 -2.89%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $363.47 -2.86%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $804.70 -2.85%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.99 -2.74%
American Express Co. (AXP) $296.43 -2.08%
3M Co. (MMM) $152.98 -1.74%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $354.88 -1.64%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $114.25 -1.52%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $56.99 -1.28%

S&P 500 - Risers

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $116.89 4.32%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $474.21 3.98%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $205.51 3.78%
Apache Corp. (APA) $33.29 2.87%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $26.99 2.85%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $54.97 2.72%
Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $182.79 2.53%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $67.42 2.48%
Eog Resources Inc. (EOG) $133.55 1.70%
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $664.71 1.63%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Gap Inc. (GAP) $24.53 -9.71%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.16 -7.53%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $217.37 -7.09%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $91.13 -6.85%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $207.34 -6.85%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,381.60 -6.21%
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. (JEF) $41.53 -5.83%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $333.08 -5.75%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $319.14 -5.65%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $25.73 -5.60%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $26.45 5.94%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $52.84 5.36%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $474.21 3.98%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $205.51 3.78%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $118.42 3.62%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $164.46 2.73%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $261.65 1.51%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $219.82 1.23%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $437.18 1.12%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $221.91 1.09%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

American Airlines Group (AAL) $11.16 -7.53%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,306.68 -7.11%
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (JBHT) $217.37 -7.09%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $207.34 -6.85%
Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $3.30 -6.23%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,381.60 -6.21%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $333.08 -5.75%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $319.14 -5.65%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $355.11 -5.32%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $380.03 -5.27%