Stock Market Watch

Stocks End Almost Flat As Concerns Over Syria Still Linger

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U.S. stocks closed on a mixed note on Friday, snapping a streak of three successive session gains as concerns over U.S. military intervention in Syria still linger after President Obama said to reporters that he intends to gather more support from the Congress over this issue.

The Dow Jones fell 0.10%; the NASDAQ Composite Index inched up 0.03% Index while the S&P 500 Index ticked higher 0.01%.

Earlier Today, stocks opened moderately higher after the Labor Department’s non-farm payrolls data showed that 169,000 new jobs were added in August, which was below economists’ forecast of 180,000. Meanwhile, June and July’s net payrolls additions were downwardly revised by combined 74,000. The unemployment level, however, slipped to 7.3% in August from 7.4%.

The data and downward revision raised hopes that the Federal Reserve might wait a bit longer before its starts to wind down the asset purchase program. BNP Paribas said that that it expects the Fed to start tapering process from December.

However, stocks turned sharply lower quickly after Putin in a news conference said that Moscow will not stop arms supply to Syria even if the U.S. decides to take a military action against Assad’s regime.

Later, President Obama said that he will put forward his case concerning Syria in front of the nation and convince the congress why it was necessary to punish Assad’s regime. “It would be a mistake for me to jump the gun and speculate because right now I’m working to get as much support as possible out of Congress,” added Obama. Both these leaders were attending G20 Summit.

Quiksilver Inc.  (NYSE: ZQK) and VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) were among major gainers.

Shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) climbed about 3% on Friday. The stock has gained more than 90% in last three months.








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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