A rebound week for stocks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials crept higher Friday, capping a week of modest gains, as Wall Street recovered some ground after last week's big selloff.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 20.91 to 12,281.61, Charts) and the broader S&P 500 (up 0.84 to 1,402.73, Charts) index both ended the session slightly higher, according to early tallies. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (down 0.48 to 2,387.25, Charts) composite finished the session little changed.

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Stocks bounced back from last week's swoon, when they turned in their worst weekly performance in four years. For the week, the Dow gained 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 added 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent.

In Friday's session, Treasury prices sank, the dollar gained versus other major currencies, while oil prices sank about 2 percent.

Here's a look at what was moving before the close:

Stocks rose modestly at the open as investors welcomed the mostly positive job report as well as readings on trade and wholesale inventories that all suggested the economy is holding up fairly well.

But the advance lost steam, with investors cautious at the end of a second straight volatile week on Wall Street.

"I think people are tired of the emotional roller coaster of the last two weeks," said Scott Merritt, U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. "They were looking for an excuse to find a real positive or negative in the jobs report, and I don't think it was there."

Last week's selling came after tumbling Chinese markets and a batch of weak economic reports sparked a mass exodus on Wall Street.

In its monthly employment report, the Labor Department said employers added 97,000 jobs to payrolls in February, versus expectations for 100,000. But both December and January payroll gains were revised higher.

In addition, the unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, fell to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent, surprising economists who, on average, thought it would hold steady.

Average hourly earnings, the report's inflation component, rose 0.4 percent last month versus expectations for a rise of 0.3 percent. Earnings rose 0.2 percent in January.

The payroll growth is basically neutral for the markets, Merritt said, while the drop in unemployment and rise in average hourly earnings are "not good news for inflation doves."

A separate report showed that the January trade balance narrowed more than expected.

A third report showed a bigger than expected jump in January wholesale inventories.

All of which sent Treasury prices tumbling, as bond investors bet the Fed is unlikely to cut interest rates any time soon. The decline raised the yield on the 10-year note to 4.58 percent from 4.51 percent late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Subprime lender New Century Financial (down $0.66 to $3.21, Charts) tumbled 16 percent in active trade on revived worries that it will have to file for bankruptcy. Late Thursday, the company said that it has stopped taking new loan applications because some of its financial backers won't provide access to financing.

The drop dragged other subprime mortgage lenders lower including Fremont General (down $0.29 to $8.05, Charts) and Accredited Home Lenders (down $0.96 to $15.82, Charts).

Homebuilder Hovnanian (down $1.22 to $29.38, Charts) skidded 4 percent after it reported a larger-than-expected first-quarter loss and said it doesn't yet see a bottom for the housing market.

Yahoo! (down $1.60 to $29.11, Charts), down 5 percent, dragged on the Nasdaq composite on news that AT&T wants to scale back its partnership with the search engine, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

Alcoa (up $0.76 to $33.25, Charts) and McDonald's (up $0.55 to $44.19, Charts) were among the stocks giving the Dow a boost.

McDonald's rose after reporting solid February same-store sales, or sales at stores open a year or more.

National Semiconductor (up $1.12 to $26.40, Charts) jumped after the company said late Thursday that, with inventory worries over, revenue in the current quarter should come in ahead of analysts' expectations. The chip maker also reported lower fiscal third-quarter earnings that topped analysts' forecasts.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by a margin of 3 to 2 on volume of 1.4 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers narrowly topped decliners on volume of 1.9 billion shares.

In currency trading, the dollar rallied versus the yen and the euro.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery fell $1.59 to settle at $60.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell $3.50 to $652 an ounce.

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