Jobs halt Wall Street rally, investors eye earnings

US stocks fell on Friday as a weak jobs report dashed optimism that the economy was emerging from a soft patch, leaving investors to hope earnings season would revive an appetite for buying.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 62.29 points, or 0.49 percent, to 12,657.20 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 9.42 points, or 0.70 percent, to 1,343.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.85 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,859.81.

European shares fell sharply to end the week in the red after a surprising slide in US job creation reignited fears over the pace of growth in the world's largest economy.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of European blue-chips ended down 0.8 percent at 1,114.44 points, for a weekly loss of 0.4 percent, after being up as high as 0.5 percent before the jobs announcement. The index is down 0.7 percent so far this year.

The Nikkei average hit a four-month peak, led by gains in construction stocks after a brokerage upgrade, while investors see the market recovering to pre-quake levels next week if US job figures improve in line with other data. The Nikkei closed up 0.7 percent at 10,137.73 while the broader Topix gained 0.4 percent to 874.34.