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5-Day Forecast
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
24-Hour News Business |
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US stocks fall on employment report
By TIM PARADIS -- AP Business Writer (Published March 6‚ 2008) NEW YORK (AP) U.S. stock futures signaled a sharply lower open Friday after the government's much-anticipated February employment report came in weaker than expected. The Labor Department's report that employers cut jobs by 63,000 last month - the most since March 2003 - unnerved investors worried about the health of the economy and who had been expecting a 25,000 gain in jobs. While the unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent, the decline reflects people leaving the labor force. The highly anticipated report came minutes after the Federal Reserve announced it would take fresh steps to ease credit troubles, including boosting the amount of money it will auction to banks. The move stoked worries that the employment reading would be weaker than expected. The Fed said it will increase the size of its March 10 and 24 auctions to banks to $50 billion each. The auctions had been slated for $30 billion each and central bank officials said they plan to even bigger amounts for future auctions if need be. Also, the Fed said that it will, starting Friday, begin a series of repurchase transactions expected to reach $100 billion. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 145, or 1.20 percent, to 11,925. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 18.40, or 1.41 percent, to 1,289.50. Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 12.00, or 0.70 percent, to 1,702.25. Bond prices jumped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.52 percent from 3.59 percent late Thursday. Light, sweet crude fell 32 cents to $105.15 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on New York Mercantile Exchange after the jobs report. A slowing economy could dampen demand for oil. Wall Street had been eager for a read on the jobs picture. While unemployment remains low by historical standards the increase in unemployment stirred concern among investors worried that it will result in a consumer slowdown. The well-being of the consumer, whose spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity, is key to investors' hopes of avoiding more economic pain amid the ongoing pullback in home values and credit troubles. The employment figures weren't welcome news a day after concerns about home foreclosures and credit woes rippled through Wall Street. The Dow lost nearly 215 points Thursday, while the broader S&P 500 index fell 2.20 percent. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 3.27 percent after Wall Street's decline. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.93 percent, Germany's DAX index lost 1.53 percent, and France's CAC-40 slid 1.91 percent. |
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