NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks ended a tough week in mixed trade Friday, in a choppy trading session, as investors cast a wary eye on the solid, if not spectacular December jobs report and continued to take profits after the big rally at the end of 2004.
The Dow Jones industrial average (down 18.92 to 10,603.96, Charts), which had barely managed to break a six-session losing streak Thursday, lost around 0.2 percent Friday.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 1.70 to 1,186.19, Charts) index, which broke a four-session losing streak with modest gains Thursday, closed around 0.15 percent lower.
The Nasdaq composite (down 1.39 to 2,088.61, Charts) closed just below unchanged, marking its sixth consecutive down day.
All three indexes slumped for the week, with the Dow down 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 down 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq down 3.9 percent.
The stock market has had a tough 2005 so far. The three major gauges tumbled in the first three sessions of the year, and on Thursday the Dow and S&P 500 managed slim gains, with the Nasdaq little changed.
The tone was less negative Thursday and Friday, leading some analysts to suggest that the selling may be washed out for the very short term, setting stocks up for a little bounce early next week.
However, the market may still be in for more profit-taking or at least sideways consolidation in the weeks ahead following the big run up that started last October.
"I think the stock market is digesting a very strong end of the year," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer and founder of Tradition Capital Management.
"I don't think you're seeing signs of a broad change in the fundamentals of the market," he added, "but rather there was some postponement of tax loss selling from the end of last year into this year and that's what caused the start of the selloff."
The selloff accelerated after Tuesday's release of the Fed minutes from the December policy-setting meeting, in which it was revealed that the Central bank was apparently more concerned about inflation than had previously been known.
Next week brings economic reports on the trade balance and December retail sales, as well as the first wave of fourth-quarter earnings reports from a few corporations.
Monday, Alcoa starts the ball rolling for the blue chips. In tech, Intel is due Tuesday, Apple Computer is due Wednesday and Sun Microsystems is due Thursday.
"People have been concerned that Intel's margins are in contraction mode, so what they say about that will be noteworthy," Halliburton said.
However, even a strong report or forecast from Intel may not be sufficient to comfort the wary bulls.
A mixed take on jobs report
The major gauges seesawed on both sides of breakeven throughout the session, following the monthly payrolls report, before finally settling a bit lower.
Released an hour before the start of trading, the government's monthly jobs report showed that employers added 157,000 to payrolls in December after adding an upwardly revised 137,000 in November.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected payrolls to rise by 175,000. But the November number was revised upward by 25,000, so the job gain over two months was close to estimates.
The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, held steady at 5.4 percent, in line with estimates.
There had been a wide gap for most of the previous six months between jobs forecasts and the actual result. Therefore, investors could appreciate that "for a change, the payrolls number was not much of a surprise," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBC Greenwich Capital.
"I think the stock market's reaction has reflected that," he added.
Friday's movers
Brocade Communications (down $0.52 to $6.40, Research) sank 7.5 percent on news that it will restate 2002 and 2003 earnings. The maker of computer network gear cited additional stock-based compensation costs.
Stun gun maker Taser (down $4.90 to $22.72, Research) plunged 17 percent after saying that it is the subject of an informal Securities and Exchange Commission probe into its accounting methods and its safety claims about its stun guns.
Among tech gainers, chips were higher. Intel (up $0.34 to $22.80, Research) popped 1.5 percent and Broadcom (up $1.92 to $32.90, Research) gained more than 6 percent. The Philadelphia Semiconductor (up 5.42 to 407.56, Charts) index gained 1.3 percent.
Apple Computer (up $4.70 to $69.25, Research) popped more than 7 percent in active Nasdaq trade. First Albany boosted its 2005 earnings forecast on the tech behemoth ahead of next week's annual trade show, in which Apple is expected to introduce some new products.
Fine jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. (up $1.20 to $31.50, Research) reported December same-store sales rose 6 percent from a year earlier. The company also said it expects earnings to grow 10 percent to 12 percent in 2005. Shares rose around 4 percent.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners 9 to 7 on volume of 1.47 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers 3 to 2 on volume of 2.2 billion shares.
U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 13 cents to settle at $45.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Treasury prices inched lower, pushing the yield on the 10-year note up to 4.27 percent, up from 4.26 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and was barely changed versus the yen.
COMEX gold fell $2.10 to settle at $419.50 an ounce.
|
