Stocks flat ahead of unemployment report
By JOSHUA FREED The Associated Press February 2, 2012 7:02PM
In this Feb. 1, 2012 photo, specialist Jay Woods, center, works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Markets took a breather on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, following solid gains in the previous session, as investors positioned themselves for crucial U.S. jobs data that often set the tone for a week or two after their release. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Updated: March 4, 2012 8:18AM
Investors coasted Thursday, leaving stocks unchanged while they looked ahead to Friday for a major jobs report. U.S. government bonds hardly moved, and neither did European stocks.
Friday’s Labor Department report will show the number of jobs created in January and the unemployment rate. In December, the country added 200,000 jobs, and the rate was 8.5 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,705.41, down 11.05 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.45, or 0.1 percent, to 1,325.54. The Nasdaq composite rose 11.41 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,859.68.
Natural gas prices climbed more than 7 percent after the government said the nation’s supplies shrank last week. Natural gas hit a 10-year low last month.
Benchmark crude oil fell $1.25 to end at $96.36 per barrel in New York because of weak demand.
Retailers were a patchwork of rising and falling stocks, reflecting their patchwork of January sales results. Costco and Target came in better than expected, with Costco rising 2.8 percent and Target up 1.1 percent.
Gap rose 10.7 percent after revenue at its high-end Banana Republic stores rose 6 percent.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. fell 13.8 percent to a one-year low after it said higher markdowns and cotton costs mean its adjusted fourth-quarter profit and revenue will be less than analysts had expected.
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