Stocks Dip Ahead of Friday’s Jobs Report

The U.S. equity market fell ahead of Friday’s crucial jobs report. The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 ended the day in red, while the Nasdaq ended the day in green. Market slipped after major U.S. retailers reported weaker-than-forecast December sales report. The weak results pushed retail stocks lower in today’s trading. Telecom stocks also slumped in today’s trading. Earlier in the day, the Labor Department reported that the initial jobless claims for last week rose to 409,000.

The Dow Jones ended the day 0.22% lower at 11,697.31, the S&P 500 ended the day 0.21% lower at 1,273.85 and the Nasdaq ended the day 0.28% higher at 2,709.89.

Among major gainers and losers in today’s trading were Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), which ended the day 6.80% lower at $54.93, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), which ended the day 13.84% higher at $19.33, The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), which ended the day 6.88% lower at $20.70, Hauppauge Digital Inc. (NASDAQ: HAUP), which ended the day 54.01% higher at $3.65, and Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ), which ended the day 8.06% lower at $19.84.

The U.S. dollar climbed in trading today on renewed worries over euro zone debt crisis. The euro slipped to $1.3012 against the U.S. dollar. The dollar index climbed 0.7% today as investors pulled away from riskier assets. The stronger dollar also pushed crude oil lower, which settled below $89 a barrel.

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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