NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. stocks gained fractionally on the week, but finished little changed on the session Friday, as investors took in a mostly disappointing February jobs report and a mild mid-quarter update from Intel.
By the end of Friday's session, investors were distracted from the jobs report by all the hoopla surrounding the end of jury deliberations in the Martha Stewart case.
The Nasdaq composite (down 7.48 to 2047.63, Charts) closed nearly 0.4 percent lower. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 7.55 to 10595.55, Charts) closed just above unchanged, and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.99 to 1156.86, Charts) index closed about 0.2 percent higher.
All three finished the week marginally higher.
For the week, the Nasdaq gained 0.9 percent, its first up week in seven. The Dow closed 0.1 percent higher, its first up week in three. The S&P 500 gained 1 percent, its second up week in a row.
The major indexes initially tanked on the February payrolls report, then recovered and rallied, then turned mixed.
Employers created a meager 21,000 new jobs in February, when economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting 125,000 new non-farm jobs. In addition, job growth in December and January was revised lower. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 percent, in line with forecasts.
The persistently lagging labor market has been the source of much anxiety for investors and market watchers alike, and hopes had been raised this week that the February report might top estimates. However, the threat of a sooner rather than later rise in interest rates, which currently stand at a 45-year low, has also unnerved investors.
"I think overall the perception is that the payrolls number is OK, because at least the Fed is now going to stay put on interest rates," said Robert Long, vice president of investments at Melhado, Flynn & Associates.
All of this was exacerbated by Intel's mild mid-quarter update, and the fact that stocks have traded flat to lower for the last seven weeks, with the major indexes not budging much after 2003's strong stock rally.
Shares of Martha Stewart Omnimedia (MSO: down $3.17 to $10.86, Research, Estimates) soared nearly 20 percent in the hour after word came out that a verdict had been reached in the trial against the company's namesake domestic trend setter. When a guilty verdict on all four counts against Martha Stewart was announced in the late afternoon Friday, the stock was halted for trading. When it reopened, it tanked 22.6 percent, topping the NYSE's biggest percentage losers list.
"Next week, the market is going to be left to its own devices, there's really not much in the way of data," said Bryan Piskorowski, a market analyst at Wachovia Securities. "You've got some retail earnings and a few tech conferences. But this kind of stalling is healthy after the run we've had."
No economic reports are due until Wednesday. On the corporate front, investors will get Texas Instruments' (TXN: up $0.35 to $31.47, Research, Estimates) mid-quarter update after the close Monday and Oracle's (ORCL: down $0.29 to $12.71, Research, Estimates) earning report after the close Thursday.
What moved
Shares of Intel (INTC: down $0.70 to $28.95, Research, Estimates) declined 2.3 percent after the technology leader released its mid-quarter update after the bell Thursday. The company narrowed its first-quarter sales guidance to between $8 billion and $8.2 billion, from its previous range of $7.9 billion to $8.5 billion. Analyst forecasts had been for sales of close to $8.3 billion. The stock was the Nasdaq's most actively traded issue.
Also weighing on tech: Sun Microsystems (SUNW: down $0.36 to $4.80, Research, Estimates), which fell 7 percent in active Nasdaq trade after ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut the server maker's credit rating to junk status, due to earnings losses at the company and the fiercely competitive server market.
On the upside, McDonald's (MCD: up $1.01 to $29.85, Research, Estimates) climbed 3.5 percent after the fast-food giant said sales at restaurants open at least a year jumped 14 percent in January.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, where 1.36 billion shares changed hands, advancing issues beat decliners by more than two to one. On the Nasdaq, gainers and losers were almost evenly split on volume of 2.01 billion shares.
Treasury bond prices rallied on the jobs report and yields tumbled to eight-month lows. The 10-year note gained 1-11/32 points in price, pushing its yield down to 3.85 percent from 4.01 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Among commodities markets, NYMEX light sweet crude oil futures rose 62 cents to $37.26 a barrel. COMEX gold soared $8.40 to settle at $401.60 an ounce.
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