Stocks Slip in Cautious Sell-Off Ahead of Unemployment Report
NEW YORK -- Apprehension about the impact of the unemployment report for February helped to push down share prices.</br></br>Stocks were sold off late yesterday after a directionless trading session, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 9.90 to 2963.37. The sell-off was led by program trades and cautious professionals who wanted to clear the decks before the report, due to be released early today by the Labor Department.</br></br>The jobless statistics will be scrutinized for clues about whether the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates further anytime soon. Now that the Middle East is no longer distracting investors from the domestic economy, such reports are likely again to become a focus for the market.</br></br>"In the coming weeks, more attention will be paid to government statistics as investors begin looking for signs that an economic turnaround has been made," said Trude Latimer, chief market strategist at Jesup Josephthal.</br></br>Broader market averages also eased yesterday, with Standard & Poor's 500-Stock Index down 0.26 to 375.91 and the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index off 0.17 to 205.36.