U.S. markets lower on job report

U.S. markets headed lower Wednesday after Automatic Data Processing Inc. said the country shed 742,000 private, non-farm jobs February to March.

The figure was worse than the 650,000 economists forecast, putting investors in position to make quick adjustments, given the discrepancy.

When released figures match expectations, markets are apt to have adjusted ahead of time.

In mid-morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 107.85 points, or 1.42 percent, to 7,501.07. The Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 1.7 percent, 13.56 points, to 784.31. The Nasdaq composite index shed 28.80 points, 1.88 percent, to 1,499.79.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 6/32 to yield 2.649 percent.

The dollar was mixed. The euro fell to $1.3248, compared to Tuesday’s $1.3286. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar fell to 98.53 yen, compared to Tuesday’s 98.95 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 242.38 points to 8,351.91, up 2.99 percent.