Signals for North American markets are mixed Friday morning as the U.S. unemployment rate fell, but Amazon.com released a disappointing earnings report.

U.S. employers added 193,000 jobs to U.S. nonfarm payrolls during January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.7%, the lowest point in more than four years, the U.S. Labor Department said today. Job creation in previous months was also revised higher.

In other economic news, non-manufacturing data from the Institute for Supply Management, due for release at 10:00 ET. The index is seen falling to 59.7 from 61.0.

Amazon.com was 10% lower in pre-market trading after its 17% sales rise came in below consensus expectations and fourth-quarter profits fell 43%, hurt by lower tax benefits than a year earlier.

Video-games maker Electronic Arts reported a 31% profit fall that came in below already-lowered forecasts and guided toward a loss in the fiscal fourth quarter.

CE Franklin Ltd. said its fourth-quarter income more than doubled.. The company on Thursday reported profits of $6.3 million, compared with $2.8 million a year earlier.

Indigo Books & Music Inc. reported a 16% increase in holiday-quarter profit on an 8% rise in sales.

Andres Wines Ltd. saw its profits fall while its sales increased in the third quarter.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.24¢, down 0.13 of a cent.

Overnight, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index shed 50.91 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 16,659.64 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. On Thursday, the index on rose to a five-year high.

In Hong Kong, stocks declined sharply Friday, led by losses in property shares amid uncertainty about the outlook for U.S. interest rates. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 261.96 points, or 1.67%, to 15,429.73.

Toronto stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors moved to lock in technology share profits after yesterday’s tech rally.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 22.23 points, or 0.19%, at 11,929.91.

Five of the 10 TSX main groups finished lower.

The information technology group which jumped almost 5% on Wednesday, dropped 1.62% amid profit-taking.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index lost 9.86 points, or 0.38%, to finish at 2,554.27.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell sharply on as economic data showing rising labor costs caused concern that the Federal Reserve would extend its string of interest-rate hikes.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average finished down 101.97 points, or 0.93%, at 10,851.98.

The broader S&P 500 shed 11.62 points, or 0.91%, at 1,270.84. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ondex was down 28.99 points, or 1.25%, at 2,281.57.