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Wall Street

Stocks tread water as week ends

Marley Jay
Associated Press

NEW YORK — Stocks ended mixed Friday after news that the jobless rate has plunged to a nine-year low.

On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Banks slipped after a huge rally over the last few weeks. Bond prices rose after a string of steep declines, sending yields lower. The Dow Jones industrial average, which closed at a record high a day ago, is down slightly.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1%. Goldman Sachs, which closed at a nine-year high Thursday, was responsible for the entire loss as it fell 1.5%.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was fractionally higher. The Nasdaq composite ended 0.1% higher.

U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in November as hiring remained steady. However, fewer people looked for work and hourly wages slipped. The results cemented market expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month. A very weak jobs report would have the last thing that might have stopped the Fed from raising rates.

Bond prices, which have been falling sharply since the presidential election, rose in early trading. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.38% from 2.45%.

That helped utility and real estate companies, which are often compared to bonds because of their big dividend payments. When bond yields fall, those stocks become more appealing to investors seeking income.

Starbucks shares slid 2.2% after the company said Howard Schultz will step down as CEO in April. He will remain chairman of the company, and Starbucks said he will focus on new ideas like high-end shops. President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson will become CEO. Schultz gave up the CEO title in 2000, and investors feel Starbucks struggled until he become CEO again in 2008.

Germany’s DAX was down 0.3% and the CAC-40 in France fell 0.7%. The FTSE 100 index in Britain was 0.4% lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.5% and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 1.4%.

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