US stocks plummeted Friday after the release of disappointing jobs data for April, with tech giants leading the way on fears that consumer spending would weaken.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 168.55 points, or 1.28 percent, to 13,038.04.
The S&P 500 lost 22.49 (1.62 percent) to 1,369.08, while the tech-rich Nasdaq lost 67.96 (2.25 percent) to 2,956.34.
News that the economy generated only 115,000 net new jobs last month, less than half the pace at the beginning of the year, sent buyers running for the doors.
The data also suggested that many tens of thousands of Americans had also dropped out of the jobs market altogether, a bad sign for household incomes.
Tech stocks, sensitive to consumer spending, led the plunge: Apple lost 2.6 percent, Microsoft 2.1 percent, Google 1.9 percent, and Amazon 2.1 percent.
Source: AFP Global Edition
