LIVE MARKETS-US stocks fall after data flurry

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US STOCKS FALL AFTER DATA FLURRY

U.S. stocks are lower in the early stages of Tuesday's trading, recently weakening after holding near the unchanged mark at the opening bell following a host of economic data.

Investors continue to sift through the backlog of delayed data caused by the 43-day government shutdown, with the jobs report showing a rebound in nonfarm payrolls, although the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6% from 4.4%. In addition, the October reading for retail sales was unchanged for the month, slightly below the estimate calling for a 0.1% rise.

“I don't think there's much signal we can get from today, and I think the bond market agrees with me so far," said Will Compernolle, macro strategist at FHN Financial in Chicago. "The most important thing I would say is the rise in the unemployment rate to 4.6%. But even there, if you look at the BLS report they have a technical note that says for a number of reasons the margin of error for November is higher."

Markets are choppy in the wake of the data, with stock futures initially moving higher and Treasury yields moving lower before reversing course.

After the opening bell, S&P Global said its "flash" - or preliminary - composite purchasing manager index slipped to 53.0 this month, but still above the 50 mark that signifies expansion, from a final reading of 54.2 in November.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed business inventories increased 0.2% in September after an unchanged reading in August.

Most of the 11 major S&P sectors are red, with energy .SPNY, down about 2.5%, the worst-performing group on the session as crude prices dropped below $60 a barrel as prospects for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal appeared to strengthen, raising expectations that sanctions could be eased.

Energy names APA Corp APA.O, Halliburton HAL.N and Diamondback Energy FANG.O are among the worst performers on the S&P 500.

Communication services .SPLRCL and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD are modestly green.

Below is an early market snapshot:

(Chuck Mikolajczak, Karen Brettell)

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