Stocks Dropped at Open after Jobs Report

U.S. stocks dropped at the open on Friday, after a report on April jobs showed that fewer-than-expected jobs were created in the month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 19.05 points, or 0.08%, to 23,911.10. The S&P 500 fell 2.70 points, or 0.10%, to 2,627.03. The Nasdaq Composite added 5.67 points, or 0.08%, to 7,093.83.

Oil prices turned higher Friday, as global supplies remain tight and the market looks for possible new sanctions against Iran. June West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 27 cents, or 0.8%, to $68.70 a barrel. July Brent added 29 cents, or 0.4%, to $73.92 a barrel.

In April, the U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs while the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This unemployment rate matches a level last seen in December 2000.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA) reported better than expected top line results on Friday, driven by strong sales in its commerce and cloud computing units. The company’s March-quarter revenue grew 61 percent to 61.9 billion yuan ($9.73 billion) from a year earlier, beating analyst estimates of a 53 percent increase.