Stocks bounce between gains and losses in early US trading

Stocks are off to a mixed start on Wall Street Friday as weakness in technology stocks again weighs on the broader market. The S&P 500 shrugged off an early decline and was up 0.1%. The Nasdaq rose 0.5%. Bond yields rose after traders interpreted the latest monthly jobs report as indicating more tightness in the labor market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.75% and briefly rose close to its highest level since the start of the pandemic. The yield is a benchmark for mortgage rates, which hit their highest level since May 2020 last week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BANGKOK (AP) — World markets were lower Friday, tracking a retreat on Wall Street led by declines in big technology stocks.

Shares fell in Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Shanghai but rose in Hong Kong. U.S. futures also slipped.

A resurgence of coronavirus outbreaks has added to uncertainties over a revival of tourism and other business activity in many parts of the world including Asia.

The World Health Organization says a record 9.5 million COVID-19 cases were tallied over the last week as the omicron variant of the coronavirus swept the planet, a 71% increase from the previous 7-day period that the U.N. health agency likened to a “tsunami.”

Germany's DAX lost 0.7% to 15,942.67 while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.5% to 7,215.30. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.1% to 7,443.90, The future for the Dow industrials lost 10 points while that for the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%.

Germany’s leaders were set to consider possible new restrictions and changes to quarantine rules as the new omicron variant was quickly advancing.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the country’s 16 state governors were likely to build on restrictions introduced just after Christmas that limited private...