Nervous traders gravitate to gold and bonds
Specialist Michael Shearin, foreground center, works at his post on the floor of the NYSE on Wednesday. The government said Friday that employers added just 74,000 jobs last month, far below what economists were looking for. (Jan. 8, 2014) Credit: AP
Stock indexes ended mostly higher Friday after wavering for much of the day.
The slight rise came despite the U.S. government's latest jobs report, which showed a sharp decline in hiring last month. Investors apparently concluded that the hiring slowdown, which some economists attributed to cold weather, was a fluke.
The market's gains, however, were minuscule, and there were a number of signs that investors were being cautious.
Prices rose for bonds and gold, traditional "go-to" assets for nervous investors. Utilities and other kinds of low-risk, high-dividend stocks also rose as investors sought safe places to park money.
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 7.71 points to 16,437.05. If not for a slump in the stock price of Chevron, which reported a decline in oil and gas production late Thursday, the index would have risen slightly.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.23 percent to 1,842.37, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.44 percent to 4,174.66.
Bond prices rose, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.87 percent from 2.97 percent the day before. -- AP
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
