A 33,000 drop in the nation's payrolls weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 13 points to 22,762. Nasdaq fell 19 points to 6,566.

On the upside

Qiagen (Nasdaq: QGEN) launched its fourth generation QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus blood test for tuberculosis in the U.S.

Omega Protein (NYSE: OME) will be acquired by Cooke for a premium of approximately $500 million in cash.

Synchronoss Technologies (Nasdaq: SNCR) has restarted discussions with Siris Capital Partners for a potential transaction.

On the downside

Costco Wholesale (Nasdaq: COST) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue but margins shrank.

Retreating crude oil prices weighed down shares of Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS) and QEP Resources (NYSE: QEP).

Shares of offshore drilling services provider Noble (NYSE: NE) fell along with energy stocks.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 9 to 8 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 5 points to 2,547. Bitcoin gained $25 to $4,350.