Dow Jones:12,657.20 (–62.29) Nasdaq:2,859.81 (–12.85) S&P 500:1,343.80 (–9.42)

US STOCKS sank yesterday, as the weakest American job growth in nine months hurt companies most tied to the economy.

The S&P 500 retreated after US payrolls increased by 18,000 in June, less than the most pessim-istic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

The jobless rate rose to a 2011 high of 9.2 per cent.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 62.29 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 12,657.20.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 9.42 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 1,343.80.

The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.85 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 2,859.81.

“The report is exceedingly disappointing,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott.

“It fell short of just about everyone’s expectations and it certainly has to disappoint equity investors. It wasn’t just a miss, it was a complete whiff,” he said.

Losses in companies reliant on economic growth yesterday represented a reversal from the past three weeks.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index tracking manufacturers, commodity producers and transportation stocks rose 10 per cent between June 16 and yesterday, beating the Morgan Stanley Consumer Index of drugmakers and grocers by 6.6 percentage points.

Amid concern the debt crisis in European nations including Greece would slow global growth, the consumer index outperformed the cyclical index by 9.7 points between February and June.

Google lost 2.7 per cent as Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares.

Bank of America declined 1.9 per cent to $10.71 and General Electric fell 1.6 per cent to $18.99 for the biggest losses in the Dow.

Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, declined 1 per cent to $15.74.

Caterpillar, a construction equipment maker dropped 1.1 per cent to $110.41.

Staffing companies fell after the US jobs report showed that hiring by companies was the weakest since May 2010.

Monster Worldwide sank 3.2 per cent to $14.65. Manpower dropped 4.3 per cent to $56.13.

Merck rose 1.1 per cent to $36.12 and was the Dow’s top gainer. – (Bloomberg/Reuters)