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NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks wobbled before ending with slender gains Friday as investors shrugged off disappointing US data showing unemployment above 10 percent, to end a strong week on an upbeat note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 17.46 points (0.17 percent) to close at 10,023.42, in choppy trading that saw swings in and out of positive territory. The gains capped a week in which the Dow rose some three percent.
The Nasdaq composite increased 7.12 points (0.34 percent) to 2,112.44 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2.67 points (0.25 percent) to 1,069.30.
Market action was volatile after a much-anticipated report early Friday showed the US unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October as 190,000 jobs were shed.
The Labor Department report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed a rise in the jobless rate from 9.8 percent in September to the highest since 1983. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in over a year.
Analysts said the report highlighted slow progress in bringing down unemployment as the economy emerges from recession, leaving the market hesitant.
"Equities are flummoxed as to how to ascertain what the unemployment (rise) means for direction," said Andrew Busch at BMO Capital Markets.
Cary Leahey, senior economist at Decision Economics, said the report highlighted bad news for many Americans but showed that companies are returning to profitability by slashing jobs.
"You have a V-shaped recovery in earnings but the V has stalled in employment," he said. "That's why the stock market can rise even when the situation for many Americans is so bad."
Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com said the market rally Thursday may have been in anticipation of a better employment report, which he called "disappointing."
"From our vantage point, the employment report didn't do much to substantiate the scope of yesterday's rally," he said.
"The labor market is very weak... The rate of nonfarm payroll declines may be abating, but we fear the seeds of a jobless recovery have been firmly planted."
Among key stocks, General Electric paced the gainers with a rise of 6.24 percent to 15.33 dollars after two broker upgrades for the US conglomerate.
Citigroup was unchanged at 4.06 dollars, after announcing plans to spin off its Primerica financial services and insurance unit.
AIG tumbled 9.67 percent to 35.48 dollars as the bailed-out insurance giant reported its second straight quarterly profit, earning 455 million dollars in the past quarter.
Elsewhere in the financial space, JPMorgan Chase shed 0.89 percent to 43.48 dollars, Bank of America shed 0.53 percent to 15.05 dollars and Wells Fargo decreased 0.62 percent to 27.12 dollars.
Starbucks perked up with a gain of 7.21 percent to 21.12 dollars as the coffee shop giant reported quarterly profits better than expectations.
In the tech sector, Nvidia rallied 7.25 percent to 13.16 dollars after the computer graphics firm reported earnings topping most estimates. Elsewhere, eBay rose 0.43 percent to 23.34 dollars after settling a legal dispute over its Skype telephony unit.
Bonds rose after the weak jobs report suggested interest rates would remain low. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond eased to 3.503 percent from 3.533 percent Thursday and that on the 30-year bond dipped to 4.394 percent against 4.412 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
- AFP /ls
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