Stocks barely budge after jobs report
NEW YORK -- Wall Street paused from its big rally Friday, with stocks closing narrowly mixed after the government's November labor report showed tepid job growth as well as a pickup in inflation.
The major indexes ended the week higher, with the Dow Jones industrials having gained nearly 900 points over nine trading days.
The Labor Department reported 94,000 jobs were added to payrolls in November and that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent.
"I'd call it an employment letdown," said Jack A. Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. "A little air came out of the party balloon."
The Dow rose 5.69, or 0.04 percent, to 13,625.58, and finished the week up 1.9 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.68, or 0.18 percent, to 1,504.66, but ended the week up 1.59 percent.
The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index dipped 2.87, or 0.11 percent, to 2,706.16, but ended the week 1.70 percent higher.
The week's trading saw investors growing in confidence about the overall health of the economy and the nation's ability to generally weather the months-long credit crisis.
Stocks' big advance over the past two weeks came amid signs that the Fed was indeed concerned about slowing economic growth.
Also financial institutions and the government took steps to mitigate the damage from billions of dollars in soured mortgages and credit losses.
Bond prices fell Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.11 percent from 4.02 percent late Thursday.
The dollar slumped, while gold prices also fell.
Light, sweet crude fell $1.95 to settle at $88.28 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Government data released earlier this week showed an increase in U.S. supplies of gasoline and distillates.
Oil's retreat boosted airline and other transportation stocks, as did November traffic reports showing that carriers are making inroads in offsetting fuel costs. The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 86.82, or 1.81 percent, to 4,876.35.
The University of Michigan's preliminary reading on consumer confidence for this month showed that consumers are worried about higher gas prices and weakness in the credit markets. The headline index declined to 74.5 from 76.1 in November. Thomson/IFR had forecast a 76.0 reading.
Corporate news on Friday was mixed, indicating that business deals are still being made despite the lack of demand in many corners of the credit markets, but that some industries could see dampened profits in 2008 because of the slowing economy.