NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks were mixed Friday morning, as investors digested an upbeat February job report but nonetheless remained cautious.

The Nasdaq composite (down 4.37 to 2,245.35, Charts) lost about 0.1 percent in the early going.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 25.78 to 10,998.06, Charts) added 0.4 percent and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 0.11 to 1,272.34, Charts) index was up 0.2 percent.

Employers added 243,000 jobs to their payrolls in February, versus a downwardly revised gain of 170,000 in January. Wall Street economists thought 210,000 jobs would be added, according to a Briefing.com survey.

Average hourly earnings, the report's inflation component, rose 0.3 percent, as expected. Meanwhile, the unemployment report, generated by a separate survey, rose to 4.8 percent, versus expectations for it to hold steady at 4.7 percent.

The report seemed to support the belief that the economy continues to recover and that inflation remains contained. However, the report didn't change the perspective in the market about short-term interest rates, namely that the Federal Reserve will keep boosting them.

This realization may have been why the stock reaction to the report was not more upbeat.

On Thursday, a steep selloff in technology sent the Nasdaq tumbling and pressured the broader market.

Treasury prices dipped following the employment report, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.78 percent from 4.75 percent late Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year note was about the same as that of the 2-year note, a flattening of the yield curve, which can signal slower economic growth ahead.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery fell 43 cents to $60.04 a barrel in electronic trading.

In currency trading, the dollar gained against the euro and yen.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell $9.30 to $537.70 an ounce.

In global trade, major Asian markets ended higher, with the exception of Hong Kong's Hang Seng. European markets were mixed at midday.

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