FINANCIAL MARKETS : All Markets on Hold in Anticipation of Latest Jobless Report; Dow Off 15.36 Points : Market Overview
Wall Street stocks fell Thursday on nervous selling ahead of today’s release of September jobs data. Investors also were uneasy following a batch of third-quarter earnings warnings.
* The Treasury market wrapped up a remarkably slow four days with bond prices barely budging, but many investors and traders expected the employment figures to jolt the market.
* The dollar firmed against the German mark, but it fell against the yen as most dealers took to the sidelines ahead of the release of the employment data.
Stocks
Major financial markets held their breath ahead of today’s release of the latest monthly unemployment report, and nervousness before the data’s release drove Wall Street stocks lower.
“The market is on hold waiting for Friday morning’s employment data,” said William Lefevre of Ehrenkrantz, King, Nussbaum Inc.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 15.36 points at 3,583.63. In the broad market, declining issues led advances 1,105 to 831 on New York Stock Exchange volume of more than 254 million shares.
The Nasdaq composite index lost 2.28 points to 762.49. The American Stock Exchange index rose 0.59 of a point to a record high of 463.95.
In the jobs report, non-farm payrolls are expected to rise 155,000 for September, while the jobless rate is expected to remain steady at 6.7%, according to a Reuters survey.
Analysts said the market was also shaken by warnings from major companies that earnings in the latest quarter will be below Wall Street’s expectations.
Among the big losers, Corning sank 6 1/8 to 27 1/2 after the glass and clinical laboratory company warned that its third-quarter earnings per share could be 10% below last year’s 53 cents per share.
“Corning shows what happens if you’re below expectations,” said Ron Doran of C.L. King. “If there’s even a sniff of worse than expected results, the stock gets beaten up.”
Dayton Hudson also came under pressure, dropping 2 1/4 to 67 1/2 after it reported third-quarter earnings will be lower than last year.
Profit taking in retail stocks led the market’s decline, analysts said. Major retailers reported a solid gain in September sales. An index developed by Salomon Bros. Inc. showed the industry gained 5.6% last month from a year earlier, a big improvement from the 3.5% August increase.
Analysts said retail stocks had gained in anticipation of the report, and they turned around and sold retail stocks to collect profits. Sears, Roebuck was down 1 1/8 at 58 1/8; Kmart, down 1/2 at 24 3/8; JC Penney, down 1 at 46 1/2, but Wal-Mart Stores gained 1/4 at 26 3/4.
Among the market highlights:
* Liberty Media Corp. Class A shares finished 1 1/2 higher at 28 1/2 while Tele-Communications shares fell 3/4 at 25 7/8. Tele-Communications plans to reacquire Liberty Media.
* The Nasdaq market saw renewed selling in shares of semiconductors. Among the losers were Applied Materials, down 3 to 31 1/4, Cirrus Logic, off 7/8 at 31 3/4, and Intel, down 1/2 to 68 3/4.
Atmel Corp., which makes integrated circuits for high-performance computers, gained 2 3/8 to 35 1/8 after it reported better-than-expected earnings.
* Broderbund Software Inc. jumped 7 1/4 to 47 3/4 as its fiscal fourth-quarter net income surged 52% to 29 cents a share, exceeding analysts’ estimate of 27 cents.
* General Motors gained 7/8 to 43 7/8 as the auto maker reportedly decided to demand contract concessions from the United Auto Workers.
* U.S. Surgical Corp. gained 4 3/8 to 24 5/8 on a favorable comment by a Cowen & Co. analyst.
Foreign stock activity was mixed. In London, the The Financial Times 100-share index was down 0.3%. In Tokyo, the 225-issue Nikkei average fell 1.1%, while Frankfurt’s DAX-30 index gained 0.5%.
Other Markets
Bond analysts said this week was the slowest in recent memory, save for holiday and year-end periods, amid intense indecision in front of what many consider the month’s most important economic report.
The yield on the Treasury’s main 30-year bond closed at 6.01%, slightly higher than Wednesday’s 6.00% close and barely changed from the finish over the last six trading sessions.
This week’s unusually light trading volume and tight price ranges, analysts said, suggest that investors are nervous about jobless figures that are closely watched but highly dependent on hard-to-assess factors.
In other markets:
* The dollar eased against the Japanese yen but firmed against most European currencies as dealers focused on the Continent’s economic problems.
* Gold bullion rose 30 cents to $358.50 an ounce for the most active December contract on New York’s Commodity Exchange.
* Oil futures prices ended mixed in a generally listless session as traders focused on continuing U.N. negotiations with Iraq and reports of a crude production problem in Nigeria.
Light sweet crude oil for delivery in November settled at $18.49 per barrel, up 7 cents at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Market Roundup, D6
