US stocks lose more ground

US stocks posted steep losses Friday, ending the week with broad declines, as investors fretted over a report showing that US job creation slowed last month.

Technology stocks fell especially hard, and shares of LinkedIn had their worst day in history.

Energy and consumer discretionary stocks fell as oil prices declined and investors continued to worry that the risk of the US economy slipping into recession, while low, is growing.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 211.61 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 16,204.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 35.40 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 1,880.05 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 146.41 points, or 3.3 per cent, to 4,363.14.

US government bond prices were mostly unchanged. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note remained at 1.84 per cent.

The dollar rose to 116.89 yen from 116.71 yen. The euro fell to $1.1164 from $1.1214, inching back from its highest level in more than three months.

In the energy markets, US crude fell 83 cents to $30.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 40 cents to $34.06 a barrel in London. Heating oil fell 2 cents to $1.059 a gallon, wholesale gasoline fell 3.6 cents to 99.27 cents and natural gas rose 9 cents to $2.063 per thousand cubic feet.

In precious and industrial metals trading, gold edged up 20 cents to $1,157.70 an ounce, silver fell 7 cents to $14.78 an ounce and copper fell 3 cents to $2.10 a pound, according to AP.