Stocks fell Friday as a stronger-than- expected jobs report suggested more interest-rate increases ahead, overshadowing hopes for hefty corporate profits.

"The overriding influence in markets for the next period will be tied to economic information, interest rates and oil prices," said Edgar Peters, the chief investment officer and macro strategist with PanAgora Asset Management in Boston. "The macro environment will become more and more important, going forward."

Alcoa, the world's biggest aluminum producer, kicks off the first-quarter earnings season today with what are expected to be sharply improved net profits and stronger revenues over the year-ago period, according to analyst estimates. Alcoa is the first of the Dow industrials to report quarterly earnings.

After Alcoa, conglomerate General Electric will report quarterly results Thursday before the market opens.

"[This] week, earnings numbers will probably be a positive for the market. The overriding negative, though, is going to be the outlook for interest rates," said Joe Liro, economist and market strategist at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates.

Investors will get a better sense of US consumption patterns this week, as the government releases data on both trade and retail sales. The trade deficit report will be released Wednesday, while retail sales are due Thursday.

Retail performance is likely to become increasingly important for the Federal Reserve as it looks to gauge the extent of a housing-led slowdown on consumer spending.

The US international trade deficit was expected to ease off a bit to US$67.50 billion (HK$526.5 billion) in February after hitting a fresh record of US$68.51 billion in January. That should create some drag on first-quarter gross domestic product but not enough to derail what most economists believe was solid growth in the quarter.

REUTERS