Stock market stumbles after weak US hiring news
Stock market slides after weak hiring in US last month; Partial government shutdown continues
FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013, file photo, Trader Michael Smyth works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Global stocks remained jittery Wednesday Oct. 2, 2013 on fears that a partial shutdown of the U.S. government could undermine the country's fragile economic recovery.(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
·Associated PressNEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market is falling as a partial shutdown of the US government continues and after a payroll company reported weak hiring last month.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 85 points, or 0.6 percent, at 15,106 as of noon Eastern time Wednesday. It fell as much as 147 points earlier.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down seven points, or 0.4 percent, at 1,688. The Nasdaq composite fell 11 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,807.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.60 percent from 2.65 percent late Tuesday.
Defense contractors were among the biggest losers as investors worried that the government shutdown wouldn't be resolved quickly.
Raytheon fell $2.04, or 2.6 percent, to $75.76 and Lockheed Martin fell $3.08, or 2.4 percent, to $124.41.
