At the close of the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones was down 1.07% to hit a 3-month low, the S&P 500 was down 1.45% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 1.76%.

Unemployment in the US rose to 3.6% in February from 3.4% the previous month, while analysts believed that the figure would not change. And the number of people employed in non-agricultural sectors of the economy increased by 311,000, with a projected increase of 205,000.

Statistics on the labor market and consumer prices are of great importance for investors, since these are the two main indicators that the US Federal Reserve relies on when determining its further actions in monetary policy.

The leading performer among the Dow Jones index components in today's trading was Intel Corporation, which gained 0.78 points or 2.95% to close at 27.22. JPMorgan Chase & Co rose 3.31 points or 2.54% to close at 133.65. The Travelers Companies Inc rose 1.76 points or 1.01% to close at 175.68.

The least gainers were Caterpillar Inc shares, which lost 13.95 points or 5.79% to end the session at 227.01. Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc climbed 14.42 points or 4.22% to close at 327.67, while American Express Company shed 6.42 points or 3.73% to close at 165.70.

Leading gainers among the S&P 500 index components in today's trading were Intel Corporation, which rose 2.95% to hit 27.22, JPMorgan Chase & Co, which gained 2.54% to close at 133.65, and also shares of AbbVie Inc, which rose 1.61% to close the session at 149.72.

The least gainers were shares of Signature Bank, which fell 22.87% to close at 70.00. Shares of First Republic Bank lost 14.84% to end the session at 81.76. Charles Schwab Corp fell 11.69% to 58.70.

Leading gainers among the components of the NASDAQ Composite in today's trading were EUDA Health Holdings Ltd, which rose 54.20% to 2.02, Unicycive Therapeutics Inc, which gained 30.10% to close at 2.68. as well as shares of Cingulate Inc, which rose 25.00% to close the session at 1.85.

Shares of Loyalty Ventures Inc became the least gainers, which decreased in price by 58.39%, closing at 0.24. Shares of Allbirds Inc lost 47.03% and ended the session at 1.25. Quotes of Cepton Inc decreased in price by 45.75% to 0.42.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the number of securities that fell in price (2594) exceeded the number of those that closed in positive territory (463), while quotes of 75 shares remained virtually unchanged. On the NASDAQ stock exchange, 3,044 stocks fell, 595 rose, and 150 remained at the previous close.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which is based on S&P 500 options trading, rose 9.69% to 24.80, hitting a new monthly high.

Gold futures for April delivery added 2.08%, or 38.15, to $1.00 a troy ounce. In other commodities, WTI April futures rose 1.03%, or 0.78, to $76.50 a barrel. Futures for Brent crude for May delivery rose 1.21%, or 0.99, to $82.58 a barrel.

Meanwhile, in the Forex market, EUR/USD rose 0.57% to hit 1.06, while USD/JPY shed 0.91% to hit 134.90.

Futures on the USD index fell 0.67% to 104.60.