Wall St flat as data fails to ease economic fears
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US stocks seesawed, trading little changed on Friday as a better-than-expected payrolls report did little to alleviate fears of a double-dip recession.
US job growth accelerated more than expected in July as private employers stepped up hiring, easing fears the economy was sliding into a fresh recession.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 117,000, the Labour Department said, above market expectations for an 85,000 gain. In the same report, the count for May and June was revised to show 56,000 more jobs added than previously reported.
The unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 per cent from 9.2 per cent in June, but that was because discouraged jobseekers gave up the hunt.
Equity indexes oscillated between gains and losses several times in the first hour of the volatile session.
US non-farm payrolls increased to 117,000 jobs versus forecasts of a gain of 85,000, while the unemployment rate edged lower.
Analysts said deep-rooted economic problems both in the United States and globally, which had sparked a recent selloff, were eclipsing the jobs report.
"(It) doesn't solve anything. View it more as a selling opportunity rather than a reason to get back involved on the long side," said Michael Marrale, managing director and head of sales trading at RBC Capital Markets in New York.
"The prior revision up is encouraging, but at the end of the day, we are coming off the back of last Friday's weak GDP number, Monday's ISM report, and we are starting to hear some company commentary that we may be heading into or already be in a recession."
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 24.37 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 11,408.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.26 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 1,202.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.33 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 2,554.06.
Credit Suisse reduced its year-end view on the S&P 500 to 1,350 from 1,450, citing weaker-than-expected growth.
After initially falling more than 10 per cent, the CBOE Volatility index reversed course and rose 0.9 per cent, hitting its highest level since July 2010.
On Thursday, the Dow and the S&P tumbled more than 4 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 5 per cent on fears the United States was staring at another recession and Europe's sovereign debt crisis would swallow two of its largest economies.
In the latest earnings news, Procter & Gamble Co edged up 0.7 per cent to $59.98 after the world's largest household products maker posted a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit, but gave an earnings forecast that fell short of expectations.
With 87 per cent of S&P 500 companies reporting results, 72 per cent posted earnings above expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Bank of America Corp lost 1.5 per cent to $8.70. The big US bank said legal losses could total another $2.3 billion to cover litigation tied to state and federal probes into home foreclosures and investor lawsuits over soured securities.
Earlier economic reports showed US growth stalling in the first half, while the pace of growth in US manufacturing slowed more than expected in July.
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