Stocks Tumble on Jobs Report as Treasuries, Gold Rally

Stocks fell after a report showed U.S. employers hired less than half the workers economists forecast in March, damping optimism in the world’s largest economy. Gold and Treasuries rallied and bond yields from France to Austria slid to records.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated 0.4 percent to 1,553.28 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring losses that reached 1.3 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1.6 percent, its biggest drop since October, as travel and leisure companies led declines on concern an outbreak of bird flu in China will hurt demand. The Dollar Index lost 0.2 percent and 10-year Treasury yields fell five basis points to 1.70 percent, the lowest level of 2013. France’s 10-year bond yield dropped to as low as 1.72 percent, the least since Bloomberg began compiling the data in 1990. Gold jumped 1.5 percent.