Indications: U.S. stock futures slide after jobs data

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By Barbara Kollmeyer & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures on Friday posted modest losses in the wake of a mixed, but mostly disappointing, unemployment report, which had job losses resuming in December, counter to expectations of slight jobs creation.

"This report is not what the market was looking for, but I don't think it derails the fact that the unemployment picture in the U.S. is getting better," said Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls fell by 85,000 last month after a revised 4,000 gain in November. The jobless rate stood at 10%. Read more about employment picture.

"The revised number for November is what we thought we'd get this month. We knew we weren't going to move in a straight line," added White.

Up slightly ahead of the much-awaited report, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were lately off 16 points at 10,529, while those for the S&P 500 fell 3.4 points to 1,134.2. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were down 5.75 points to 1,871.75.

"Also on the economic calendar are wholesale inventories for November, due at 10 a.m., and consumer credit, due at 3 p.m., both Eastern time.

Stocks in focus for Friday include Apollo Group /quotes/comstock/15*!apol/quotes/nls/apol (APOL 60.63, -3.31, -5.18%) . Those shares fell in premarket trade after the company reported late Thursday that profit surpassed expectations, but also said it received a Department of Education report regarding concerns about its handling of federal funding.

Bank of America Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!bac/quotes/nls/bac (BAC 16.77, -0.16, -0.95%) could also be in the spotlight because of a report in The Wall Street Journal that it's set to pay its investment bankers bonuses that are near 2007 levels in order to reduce the recent number of defections.

Shares of Boeing Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!ba/quotes/nls/ba (BA 61.49, -0.71, -1.14%) could see some pressure after Macquarie Equities Research downgraded the aerospace company to neutral from hold Friday, saying the stock is looking overvalued, trading at a 13% relative premium to its peers.

Some bleaker economic data came out of Europe on Friday. Unemployment in the 16-nation euro zone rose to 10% in November, up from 9.9% in October. That's the highest rate since August 1998, and in Spain, unemployment was 19.4%, Eurostat said.

Early gains in Europe evaporated on Friday after the disappointing jobs data on both sides of the Atlantic. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 /quotes/comstock/22c!sxxp (ST:SXXP 259.15, +1.11, +0.43%) slipped 0.2% to 257.63.

The mood in Asia was upbeat overnight, with Japanese exporters helped by recent weakness in the yen and Hutchison Telecommunications' /quotes/comstock/13*!htx/quotes/nls/htx (HTX 4.11, +0.79, +23.80%) shares surging in Hong Kong on an offer to take the company private.

The dollar slipped some against the Japanese yen. Japan's newly appointed Finance Minister Naoto Kan backtracked overnight from comments a day earlier that were perceived to be talking down the yen. On Friday, he said the yen's exchange rate should be determined by markets.

Crude-oil futures slipped 1 cent to $82.65 a barrel, while gold futures added $5.4 to $1,139.1 an ounce.

Bullish analyst comments boosted financial stocks, fueling an uptick in the broader market Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (INDU 10,586, -21.16, -0.20%) rose 0.3%, the Nasdaq Composite /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 2,309, +8.48, +0.37%) fell 0.1%, and the S&P 500 /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,141, -1.01, -0.09%) rose 0.4%.

The market was also buoyed by better-than-expected readings of retail sales and jobless claims but hurt by worries about interest rates.

Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.

NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Friday, Jan 8, 2010 :

STOCKS TRADING ON NYSE Arca AT A PRICE 15% OR MORE AWAY FROM
THE PREVIOUS TRADE DAY'S CONSOLIDATED CLOSE PRICE (AS OF 08:30:00 ET)

Stock Thursday's Close Current Price Pct Change Current NYSE ARCA Vol
CYCC $2.68 $3.13 16.6% 746,345
CYTX $6.44 $7.45 15.7% 16,900

10 MOST ACTIVE STOCKS ON NYSE ARCA AS OF 08:30:00 ET

BASED ON DOLLARS TRADED: | BASED ON SHARES TRADED:
Stock $ Volume Price PctChg | Stock Share Vol Price PctChg
SPY $84,970,560 $114.31 0.1% | C 3,149,920 $3.68 1.1%
BAC $30,883,580 $17.20 1.6% | BAC 1,797,915 $17.20 1.6%
C $11,560,210 $3.68 1.1% | CYCC 746,345 $3.13 16.6%
IWM $10,730,269 $64.26 0.2% | SPY 743,715 $114.31 0.1%
GLD $8,980,775 $109.99 ( 0.7%) | ANX 385,583 $0.31 4.5%
DIA $8,767,805 $105.98 0.0% | F 307,258 $11.82 1.1%
QQQQ $8,384,714 $46.26 0.3% | UNG 288,730 $10.40 ( 1.9%)
FXI $4,341,764 $43.97 0.2% | QQQQ 181,320 $46.26 0.3%
AAPL $3,649,771 $210.80 0.1% | IWM 167,083 $64.26 0.2%
F $3,619,713 $11.82 1.1% | XLF 137,805 $15.35 0.2%

Price changes may be affected by symbol splits and dividends.

Consolidated close price is the last print (excluding prints with trade
conditions) prior to 4PM ET.

This information is also updated on our web page every morning at 8:35ET:
http://www.tradearca.com/data/volume/daily_update.asp

This material is for informational purposes only.
NYSE Euronext and its affiliates ("NYSE Arca") are not soliciting any action based upon it.
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Indications: U.S. stock futures hold tight ahead of jobs data

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By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing slightly higher on Friday, but within tight ranges ahead of a key report expected to show the economy stopped shedding jobs for the first time in two years.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13 points to 10,559, while those for the S&P 500 rose 1.1 points to 1,138.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up 1.5 points to 1,879.

Bullish analyst comments boosted financial stocks, fueling an uptick in the broader market Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (INDU 10,607, +33.18, +0.31%) rose 0.3%, the Nasdaq Composite /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 2,300, -1.04, -0.05%) fell 0.1% and the S&P 500 /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,142, +4.55, +0.40%) rose 0.4%.

The market was also buoyed by better-than-expected readings of retail sales and jobless claims but hurt by worries about interest rates.

For Friday, focus falls on nonfarm payroll data, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by MarketWatch are expecting a rise of 15,000, against a previous month's fall of 11,000.

"Today may well hold the key to the Kingdom for the next few months," said David Buik, senior partner at BCG Partners in London. "Has the tide turned? Rarely has a piece of data ever been so eagerly awaited."

Christian Tegllund Blaabjerg, strategist with Saxo Bank, said in a market update on Friday that they too are expecting a "strong number," with gains of around 35,000 against consensus of a flat number, but that this also has a lot to do with seasonal adjustments.

Also out, are wholesale inventories for November, due at 10 a.m. and consumer credit, due at 3 p.m., both Eastern.

Stocks in focus for Friday include General Mills /quotes/comstock/13*!gis/quotes/nls/gis (GIS 71.30, +1.13, +1.61%) , which is expected to deliver a mid-year update for analysts before the market open.

Some bleaker economic data came out of Europe on Friday. Unemployment in the 16-nation euro zone rose to 10% in November, up from 9.9% in October. That's the highest rate since August 1998, and in Spain, unemployment was 19.4%, Eurostat said.

European stocks were higher, riding on optimism ahead of the U.S. jobs data. Shares of Deutsche Bank /quotes/comstock/13*!db/quotes/nls/db (DB 74.17, +0.83, +1.13%) and Barclays /quotes/comstock/13*!bcs/quotes/nls/bcs (BCS 20.40, +0.73, +3.71%) were up after an upgrade to buy from UBS.

The mood was upbeat in Asia as well overnight, with Japanese exporters helped by recent weakness for the yen and Hutchison Telecommunications' /quotes/comstock/13*!htx/quotes/nls/htx (HTX 3.32, 0.00, 0.00%) shares surging in Hong Kong on an offer to take the company private.

The dollar was on firmer ground ahead of the payrolls data, but slipped some against the Japanese yen. Japan's newly appointed Finance Minister Naoto Kan backtracked overnight from comments a day earlier that were perceived to be talking down the yen. On Friday, he said the yen's exchange rate should be determined by markets.

Crude oil futures were down 25 cents to $82.40 a barrel, while gold futures were down $11.10 to $1,122.60 an ounce.

Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.