NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks finished mixed Friday as a better-than-expected US jobs report lifted the S&P 500 to a new record, fending off anxiety over Ukraine.
The S&P 500 edged 1.01 (0.05 percent) higher to 1,878.04, notching its third record in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 30.83 (0.19 percent) to 16,452.72.
But the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.90 (0.37 percent) to 4,336.22.
Brent Schutte, strategist at BMO Global Asset Management, said Friday's monthly jobs report was good, but that stocks were taking a break after the recent surge.
"We've come a long way in the markets the last few weeks, so it's just taking a breather," Schutte said.
The US jobs report said the economy added 175,000 jobs in February, an improvement after jobs growth had plummeted the prior two months.
But Ukranian tensions continued to "fester," said a market note from Charles Schwab. Markets in Britain, France and Germany all moved sharply lower following a threat from Russian gas company Gazprom to halt deliveries to Ukraine.
Supermarket chain Safeway fell 2.2 percent to $38.60 after unveiling a merger with Albertsons that will create a retail giant with more than 2,400 stores and 250,000 employees. Under the deal, Albertsons owner Cerberus agreed to pay $40 a share for Safeway.
Earnings from Foot Locker came in at 81 cents a share, five cents above expectations, lifting the stock by 8.8 percent.
Cybersecurity company FireEye took a hit as it announced a follow-on offering of 14 million shares of stock priced at $82 per share. Shares tumbled 9.5 percent to $81.04.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury jumped to 2.79 percent from 2.73 percent, while the 30-year increased to 3.72 percent from 3.69 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
Comments
Comments are closed.