Stocks headed for ugly start

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were headed for an early sell-off Friday, after the government reported no job growth in August.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures fell about 1.5% ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

The Labor Department said employers didn't add or eliminate jobs during the month. That was the weakest reading since September 2010, when the economy lost about 27,000 jobs. The last time the headline employment number was zero was in February 1945.

A CNNMoney survey of 21 economists forecasts that the U.S. economy added 75,000 jobs overall.

Unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1%, as expected.

The bad news sent investors flocking to gold and U.S. Treasuries -- traditional safe havens. Concerns about the U.S. economy slipping back into a recession have been in the spotlight during the last several weeks.

White House: Slower jobs recovery ahead

Early Friday, gold prices jumped $46 to $1,875 an ounce, while the yield on the 10-year note slid closer to 2% -- a level it hasn't seen since mid-August.

Stocks ended Thursday's session solidly lower, as weakness in financial shares offset a stronger-than-expected manufacturing report that initially eased some investor jitters.

Companies: Netflix (NFLX) shares sank almost 10% in early trading, after Starz said late Thursday that it has ended contract renewal negotiations. Starz will pull its movies and TV shows from Netflix early next year.

Financial stocks could come under pressure following news reports, citing unnamed sources, that said the Federal Housing Authority was gearing up to file lawsuits against Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), among others.

Shares of Bank of America fell 5% in premarket trading.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve sanctioned Goldman over questionable practices in one of its mortgage units. Shares of bank edged lower by almost 1%.

Campbell Soup's (CPB, Fortune 500) stock rose 3% after the company reported better-than-expected profit of $100 million. But that was down 12% from a year ago. The soup company also expcts its profit to fall in fiscal 2012.

World markets: European stocks took a dive in afternoon trading, following the U.S. jobs report. Britain's FTSE (FTSE) 100 fell 1.9%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany sank 2.9%and France's CAC (CAC) 40 fell 2.7%.

Asian markets ended the session ended lower. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) fell 1.1%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong (HSI) dropped 1.8% and Japan's Nikkei (N225) tumbled 1.2%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro, but fell versus the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil for October delivery slipped $2 to $86.93 a barrel.