US stocks plummet on Fed rate worries after jobs report

Wall Street stocks finished sharply lower Friday after a strong US jobs report raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon lift interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 278.94 points (1.54 percent) to 17,856.78.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 29.78 (1.42 percent) to 2,071.26, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 55.44 (1.11 percent) at 4,927.37.

The Labor Department said the US economy added 295,000 jobs in February, pushing the unemployment rate down two tenths to 5.5 percent, the lowest level since May 2008.

Analysts said the latest job figures, which followed a string of good jobs reports, boosted the chance the Fed will hike near-zero interest rates as early as June.

"You've got a market that's manifesting a concern about interest rates going higher in the near term," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities.

Friday's losses were broad-based, with all 30 members of the blue-chip Dow index finishing in the red. The biggest declines were Johnson & Johnson (-2.4 percent) and Procter & Gamble (-2.3 percent).

Facebook dropped 1.5 percent, Google lost 1.3 percent and Amgen fell 3.0 percent.

Apple rose 0.2 percent after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced the tech giant would join the blue-chip index this month, replacing AT&T. AT&T fell 1.5 percent.

Bank of America rose 1.4 percent after it passed the first phase of Federal Reserve stress tests.

A note from Deutsche Bank said Bank of America would benefit more from most from next week's second round, at which the Fed will determine whether banks can issue dividends and buy back shares.

Apparel retailer Gap dropped 1.7 percent after reporting that comparable-store sales fell four percent in February.

Sneakers and athletic gear retailer Foot Locker jumped 4.1 percent after fourth-quarter net income rose 20.7 percent ot $146 million.

Yoga attire retailer Lululemon Athletica fell 3.9 percent on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs.

Bond prices fell sharply. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury jumped to 2.24 percent from 2.11 percent Thursday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.84 percent from 2.72 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.