Stocks rise as investors snap up financials
Tim ParadisStocks turned higher Friday, reversing steep losses that followed a worrisome reading on the nation's job market as investors sought bargains in sectors like financials and consumer staples.
The Labor Department said payrolls shrank by 84,000 last month, more than the 75,000 economists predicted, and higher than the 51,000 jobs lost in July. The unemployment rate rose to a five-year high of 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent.
The report confirmed Wall Street's fears that the economy continues to weaken. The nation has lost nearly 550,000 jobs so far this year, eroding investors' hopes for a late-year recovery.
"This was an ugly number that pretty much confirms that our economy continues to trend downward," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank. "I had thought things were stabilizing, and this just knocks the legs out of any hope of seeing much economic improvement right now."
But investors snapped up stocks hit in a sell-off Thursday, particularly banks and insurers.
Shortly before the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.35, or 0.41 percent, to 11,233.58; the blue chips had been down 150 points at their lows of the session.
Broader stock indicators were moving in and out of positive territory. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.66, or 0.54 percent, to 1,243.49, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.01, or 0.13 percent, to 2,262.05.
Stocks turned in a dismal performance on Thursday, with all three major indexes moving back into bear market territory, defined as a 20 percent drop from a recent peak. The Dow plunged more than 340 points in a selloff underpinned by disappointing economic news and lackluster sales reports from retailers.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.66 percent from 3.62 percent late Thursday.
"Since mid-July I think it's become apparent that the global economies have really weakened pretty sharply," said Thomas J. Lee, U.S. equities strategist at J.P. Morgan in New York. He said that while investors had been applauding the drop in oil prices since then, there was an assumption that lower commodities prices would hasten a recovery in the U.S. economy. Now, he said, investors are worried that the economy might be weakening even as oil falls.
"It's disinflation coupled with an accelerating downside in the economy. That's not what people were prepared for. I think people were expecting disinflation as an economic recovery was under way," Lee said. "The surge in unemployment today really underscores that fear."
As it had earlier in the week, Wall Street found little comfort from falling oil. Crude at one point dropped below $106 a barrel Friday as the dollar continued to gain on the euro and investors waited to see whether OPEC moves to restrict output next week following a two-month plunge in prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet early next week in Vienna and has indicated it may take action to defend the $100-a-barrel level.
Light, sweet crude settled down $1.66 to $106.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Among financials carving out advances, Citigroup Inc. rose 79 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $19.09, while Bank of America Corp. rose $1.55, or 5.1 percent, to $32.15. Wachovia Corp. rose $1.31, or 8.4 percent, to $16.84.
In the consumer staples sector, smokeless tobacco maker UST Inc. surged following a report from The New York Times that Altria Group Inc. plans to acquire the company. Altria, parent of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, dismissed the report as "pure speculation." Nonetheless, UST, the maker of Skoal and Copenhagen brands, jumped $13.79, or 25 percent, to $67.79, while Altria rose 31 cents to $20.97.
Energy names slipped as oil continued its drop. Chevron Corp. declined $1.01 to $80.21, while ConocoPhillips fell $1.11 to $75.37.
Advancing issues narrowly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.01 billion shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.69, or 0.24 percent, to 720.31.
And the gloom about the U.S. economy was not contained to just major American indexes. Investors overseas sent shares sharply lower on concerns about America's effect on global growth.
Japan's Nikkei stock fell 2.75 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 ended down 2.26 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 2.42 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 2.49 percent.
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