US stocks mixed on jobs data

NEW YORK: US stocks reversed early losses to close mixed on
Thursday, helped by data showing solid improvement in the US jobs market
in December.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chips slipped again in
late trade to end barely in the red, down 2.72 points (0.02 percent) at
12,415.70.


The broad-based S&P 500 closed up 3.76 points (0.29 percent) to
1,281.06, while the tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite added 21.50 points
(0.81 percent) to 2,669.86.


Encouraging the bulls were separate data releases showing the job
market continued to improve in December. Payrolls firm ADP reported a
huge surge in private-sector hiring, at a net 325,000 jobs, much higher
than forecasts.






The government's weekly report on new claims for unemployment
compensation - an indicator of the pace of layoffs - fell slightly,
confirming the steady downtrend of the past two months.


But eurozone worries continued to hold the markets back, with the
euro falling on heightened worries about Spain's banks and a rise in
French debt yields.


"Against this wishy-washy backdrop, the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq
Composite clawed their way into the black," said Andrea Kramer of
Schaeffer's Investment Research.


Bank of America shares jumped 8.6 percent, helped by unproven
speculation that the government was preparing measures to help the
housing market - which would benefit its dead-weight portfolio of bad
mortgages.


Retailer Target sank 3.0 percent after it cut its fourth-quarter
earnings outlook, citing disappointing sales during the
November-December holiday season.


Monsanto, the farm seeds giant, surged 5.5 percent after its fiscal first-quarter earnings beat market estimates.


On the Nasdaq, shares of disk drive maker Seagate pushed up 6.4
percent after it reported revenues for its second quarter that beat
analyst forecasts.


The company was less affected than its competitors by the flooding in Thailand, the global disk-drive hub.


Shares of Eastman Kodak lost another 10.6 percent after Wednesday's
18 percent drop, as Moody's downgraded its credit rating deep into
"junk" territory citing the high chance of an imminent bankruptcy
filing. - AFP