Stocks trade mixed as dollar slides, investors find positives in unemployment rate at 10.2 pct

Stocks zigzag as dollar slides on jobs report

NEW YORK — Stocks zigzagged in light trading Friday as investors found some positives for the market in a surprisingly weak jobs report.

The Labor Department said employers cut more jobs than expected in October, pushing the unemployment rate above 10 percent for the first time since 1983. However, the pace of job losses slowed.

The rise in joblessness, while not welcome news for the economy, reassured some investors that the Federal Reserve will have to hold interest rates lower for some time. That at times weakened demand for the dollar, which gave a boost to stocks.

“We got data today that suggests that interest rates are going to be on hold for a while,” said Max Bublitz, chief strategist at SCM Advisors.

When the dollar is weaker, U.S. goods are cheaper for buyers overseas. Companies that do business overseas also get a profit boost when their earnings are translated back into dollars.

Safe-haven assets like Treasurys were mixed. Oil prices tumbled and gold topped $1,100 an ounce for the first time. Gold benefits when investors are worried about a weak dollar and inflation.

The jobs report bodes poorly for consumer spending, a key driver of the economy. Economists say stronger consumer spending will be necessary to sustain a recovery.

The Labor Department said employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, fewer than the 219,000 jobs lost in September, but more than forecast. The unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent in September.

The market has been expecting unemployment to top 10 percent before peaking. But the pace of job losses has accelerated and the rate is likely to go higher.

In the final hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 1.13, or less than 0.1 percent, to 10,004.83. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.63, or 0.1 percent, to 1,067.26, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.30, or 0.2 percent, to 2,109.62.

Falling stocks narrowly outpaced those that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 837 million shares compared with 1.1 billion traded at the same point Thursday.

Bond prices were mixed. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose, pushing its yield down to 3.52 percent from 3.53 percent late Thursday.

Oil fell $2.12 to settle at $77.87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose $6.40 to settle at $1,095.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding 5.3 percent for the week.

Jeffrey Friedman, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a futures brokerage, said the market has risen too high so some break is in order.

“Over all, the market is a little overbought,” he said. “We’re still losing jobs. 10.2 is not a good number. And in reality, it’s probably even higher.”

Some analysts saw reasons for optimism in the report. The number of temporary service jobs rose 34,000. Companies that are reluctant to commit to hiring workers will often first bring in temps to meet demand until they’re more confident of a turnaround in the economy.

Linda Duessel, equity market strategist at Federated Investors, noted that payroll numbers turn higher an average of four and a half months after temp numbers begin to rise.

“We’ve been looking for temps to turn and they turned,” she said. “It’s good.”

Investors appeared unfazed by a report that consumer borrowing also fell for the eighth straight month in September. The Fed said borrowing fell at an annual rate of $14.8 billion in September. That’s the biggest drop since July and more than a drop of $10 billion analysts forecast.

The government also said wholesalers trimmed inventories for a record 13th straight month in September, though sales rose for a sixth straight period.

Although investors found a few bright spots in the jobs report, the numbers did shake confidence in the economic recovery, stoked Thursday by an encouraging outlook from Cisco Systems Inc., better data on productivity and higher sales at major retailers. The Dow jumped 203 points on the day’s string of good news to close above 10,000 for the first time in two weeks.

Investors will have fewer economic reports to drive trading next week. A report due Friday on consumer sentiment will draw attention because traders are eager for any signals about how consumers will spend heading into the holiday season.

Earnings reports are due from retailers J.C. Penney Co., Macy’s Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as well as Walt Disney Co.

Investors will also be tracking the ability of the government to raise money. The Treasury Department plans to auction $81 billion in debt next week. Analysts are watching for signs that demand is weakening for government debt because that could threaten government stimulus spending and boost interest rates.

In corporate news, Starbucks Corp. rose $1.44, or 7.3 percent, to $21.14 after the coffee chain said its fourth-quarter profit rose and it raised its fiscal 2010 earnings forecast because of an increase in customers.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.32, or 0.6 percent, to 577.83.

Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.1 percent, and France’s CAC-40 slipped less than 0.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.7 percent.