Stocks tumbled Friday following the release of a strong jobs report, as investors feared the Federal Reserve would respond with faster interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 600 points, or greater than 2 percent, by the late afternoon. On the week, stocks were down almost 4 percent.
The tumble appeared to be kicked off by the release of a monthly jobs report for January that showed the economy adding 200,000 new jobs and wages growing at the fastest annual pace since 2009. The strong report raised expectations for the Fed to raise its target interest rate more in the coming months, with bond markets pricing in three increases by the end of the year. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury securities also opened above 2.8 percent following the jobs report, hitting the highest rates since 2014.
"What this is really reflecting is that the Fed could be behind the curve, that the Fed may have to do more than they’re currently projecting," Cameron Crise, macro strategist for Bloomberg, said on air.
The Fed is undergoing a leadership transition this weekend, with Trump nominee Jerome Powell taking over from Janet Yellen as chairman on Monday.
