Wall St slumps ahead of jobs report

US stocks fell today, a day before a closely watched report on the country's labour market will indicate whether prospects are improving for the world's largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 117.08 points (1.01 per cent) to 11,496.45 in closing trade. The broader S&P 500 dropped 14.31 points (1.17 per cent) to 1204.58, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite sank 34.09 points (1.32 per cent) to 2545.37. Earlier, stocks rallied after a better-than expected report on the US manufacturing sector, but the gains faded and markets went into the red amid nervousness over tomorrow's data on US nonfarm payrolls and unemployment. "The market is uneasy about the employment figures," said Gregori Volokhine, of Meeschaert Capital Markets. Economic data from around the world was mixed yesterday, but reflected softness in manufacturing and in the US labour market. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. In the United States, the Institute for Supply Management put the reading for its monthly manufacturing survey at 50.6 percent, lower than in July but above analysts' expectations. A number above 50 reflects expansion. Separately, US government data showed that initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 in the week ending August 27, but still remained stubbornly high at 409,000. In the eurozone, manufacturing slumped last month, according to a monthly survey compiled by Markit, while in China, official data showed a modest pick-up in industrial activity from July to August. Caterpillar, the maker of construction and mining equipment which is seen as being especially sensitive to global economic trends, was down 2.7 percent in trading on Wall Street. Financials also performed poorly, with JPMorgan Chase diving 3.4 percent and Bank of America tumbling 3.2 percent. US retailer Costco jumped 1.2 percent after it reported a strong increase in same-store sales in August, even as it also announced that its longtime chief executive Jim Sinegal was stepping down at age 75. Bond prices climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.15 percent from 2.22 percent late Wednesday, while that on the 30-year bond dropped to 3.51 percent from 3.59 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.