The Dow Jones Industrials dived into the red 84.69 points at noon hour to 34,593.66
The S&P 500 sagged 14 points to 4,516.41.
The NASDAQ Composite declined 51.02 points to 14,169.50.
Wall Street is fresh off its first negative quarter in two years, but there were positive signs for investors on Friday.
Materials stocks outperformed in early trading, with Freeport-McMoRan rising more than 3%. Big bank stocks struggled, with Citigroup shedding 2.2%.
U.S.-listed Chinese stocks jumped on Friday after a report that China was considering sharing company audits with foreign regulators. The so-called meme stocks also advanced, with Gamestop jumping 9% after announcing a plan to split its stock.
Investors were also digesting the official jobs report for March, which showed the U.S. economy adding 431,000 jobs. The result was below the composite estimate of 490,000 but above some of the lower end estimates.
Treasury prices flopped Friday, with yields leaping to 2.38%, from Thursday’s 2.33%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped 89 cents to $99.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices removed $24.90 to $1,929.10 U.S. an ounce.
U.S. Stocks Dawdle by Midday, Trying to Come Back from Downward Q1