News that employment declined by 63,000 jobs in February outweighed the Fed's conciliatory move to put $200 billion into the economy by raising limits on short-term bond auctions in March and initiating term repurchases.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 146.70 points, ending at 11,893.69 points, off 1.22 percent.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 10.97 points, down 0.84 percent, to 1,293.37.

The Nasdaq composite index closed down 8.01 points to 2,212.49, off 0.36 percent.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 10/32 to yield 3.556 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5378 from $1.538 Thursday, while the dollar traded at 102.76 yen from 102.655 yen Thursday.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average posted a 432.62-point loss Friday, off 3.2 percent to 12,782.80 points.

In London, the FTSE 100 lost 66.50 points to 5,699.90, down 1.15 percent.