NEW YORK — U.S. stocks were hammered Friday, pushing the Dow industrials to their lowest close since Oct. 11, 2006, after February’s unemployment report cemented thinking of a recession, and central bank moves to stem the credit crunch failed to offset the damage.
“Folks, based on today’s employment report, if we are not in a recession, it is a darned good imitation of one,” said Kevin Giddis, managing director, fixed-income trading, Morgan Keegan & Co.
“We are in an unprecedented real estate and credit crisis that is whipping its way through the U.S. economy.”
The Dow Jones industrial average declined 146.70 points to 11,893.69, giving it a weekly loss of 3 percent. Since the year began, the blue chip index has lost more than 1,370 points, declining 10 percent in value.
Of the Dow’s 30 components, 23 closed with losses, with the declines fronted by Boeing Co., off 3.7 percent, and DuPont Co., down 3.2 percent, as the chemical giant vowed to appeal a judgment that it pay $196.2 million in damages in a pollution case.
Shares of financial stocks were mixed, with J.P. Morgan Chase up 0.5 percent, American Express Co. gaining 0.6 percent, and Citigroup Inc. down 1.3 percent.
Off the Dow, shares of Thornburg Mortgage fell 8.5 percent after it said it failed to meet $610 million in margin calls.
The S&P 500 fell 10.97 points to 1,293.37, down 2.8 percent on the week, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 8.01 points to 2,212.49, off 2.6 percent on the week.
The broad-based equities slide came in modest volume, with 1.7 billion shares traded on New York Stock Exchange, with declining issues outpacing those advancing nearly 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, nearly 1.1 billion shares were exchanged, and decliners topped advancers 3 to 2.
Attempting to soften the pre-opening employment report blow, the Federal Reserve announced two steps to add cash to the bank system, saying it would bolster the amount of its loans to banks this month.
“This may help, but to me, banks don’t need incentive to borrow as much as they need incentive to lend,” Giddis said.
The Labor Department reported nonfarm payrolls fell by 63,000 in February, the largest drop since March 2003, and revised its count for December and January lower.
“The economy has stopped producing jobs, and we’re one step closer to one quarter of negative growth,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures swung between gains and losses after the government reported the jobs data, with gold for April delivery falling $2.90 to end at $974.20 an ounce.
Elsewhere on the NYME, crude-oil futures edged lower, with crude for April delivery down 32 cents to settle at $105.15 a barrel.
