Stock Prices Are Mixed; Bonds Slip --- January Job Report, Due This Morning, May Move Markets
Stock prices were mixed and bonds slipped as investors awaited this morning's January employment report. The dollar was mixed.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.01 to 3255.59 in heavy trading. Standard & Poor's 500-stock index eased 0.02 to 413.82. But the Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 0.70 to a record 637.67.</br></br>Today's employment report could move the financial markets. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Capital Markets Report estimate that nonfarm payrolls rose 33,000 in January after rising 31,000 in December. The civilian unemployment rate is expected to be unchanged at 7.1%.</br></br>If it turns out that payrolls shrank, instead, the Federal Reserve might cut the federal funds rate -- which banks charge one another for short-term loans -- once again to show its resolve to get the economy growing. But analysts aren't sure what the Fed might do if jobs do indeed grow modestly as projected. While investors are betting that an economic recovery is already in the works and that evidence of it will begin to appear in the next few months, analysts said one more cut in short-term rates would bolster investor confidence.</br></br>The economic news yesterday presented a mixed picture. On the upbeat side, the Labor Department reported that initial claims for state unemployment insurance fell 10,000 to 450,000 in the week ended Jan. 25, in line with expectations. And the nation's chain stores reported robust gains in January sales.