Wall Street closed narrowly mixed Thursday as investors traded cautiously ahead of a report on December employment that will be released Friday. Inflation jitters remained high as oil prices set another trading record above $100.þþInvestors who sent shares skidding on Wednesday amid economic concerns and rising oil prices initially took some solace in a report released Thursday by the payroll company Automatic Data Processing. The report said the economy added 40,000 private-sector jobs in December, above the 30,000-job increase forecast by economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires.þþAlso Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell last week. But investors were mindful that these weekly readings can be volatile, and the latest reflected unusual factors related to the Christmas holiday.þþWall Street has for weeks been holding out for the December jobs snapshot to be issued Friday. The report, from the Labor Department, should indicate whether the solid job market that existed last year can continue into 2008 and help sustain consumer spending.þþIn Japan on Friday, share prices plunged to their lowest finish since July 2006, losing ground after jittery trading on Wall Street amid concerns about the economy and rising oil prices.þþJapan’s benchmark Nikkei stock index lost 616.37 points, or 4.03 percent, to finish Friday’s half-day session at 14,691.41 points. The close was the index’s lowest since it posted 14,500.26 points on July 19, 2006.þþOil set a fresh trading record of $100.09 a barrel in New York trading after government figures showed a larger-than-expected decline in crude oil inventories. Analysts said more expensive oil was stirring some concerns about rising prices in general and whether the Federal Reserve would still have room to lower interest rates.þþ“We are worried about inflation,” Nicholas Raich, director of equity research at the National City Private Client Group, said. “That’s probably the biggest risk in 2008.”þþThe Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.76 points, or 0.1 percent, to 13,056.72, after moving higher and lower over the course of the session.þþBroader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was unchanged at 1,447.16, and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 6.95 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,602.68.þþLinda A. Duessel, market strategist at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh, said on Thursday: “There was nothing that was really that helpful in the economic reports today. The jobless claims were a little bit better, but they’re still in a sideways pattern and the four-week average keeps moving up.” þþBond prices rose as stocks retreated, increasing 3/32, to 102 29/32. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which trades opposite its price, dipped to 3.89 percent from 3.90 percent Wednesday. þþThe continuing rise in commodities prices, including a likely uptick in gasoline prices, makes some investors nervous about the pace of consumer spending.þþIn corporate news on Thursday, shares of the State Street Corporation rose $6.49, or 8.2 percent, to $85.37 after the company said William W. Hunt had resigned as president and chief executive of State Street Global Advisors. State Street, a provider of mutual fund and pension-processing services, is preparing to book a $279 million fourth-quarter charge related to expected lawsuits over the weak performance of certain fixed-income strategies managed by the investment division.þþShares of Monsanto rose $9.45, or 8.5 percent, to $120.92 after the company said its first-quarter profit nearly tripled. þþ
Source: NY Times
