The Labor Department said employers added 166,000 jobs to their payrolls in October, the most since May. The figure was nearly double what economists had expected, according to a Thomson/IFR survey. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent, in line with September and analysts' consensus forecast.But Wall Street was clearly still shaky after Thursday's sharp pullback, which took the Dow down more than 360 points -- the fourth biggest drop of the year. The market has been mercurial lately, with economic data coming in mixed and the possibility of interest rate cuts ending, and Friday's trading saw the major indexes alternating between gains and losses.The biggest losers in the stock market Friday, as they have been in the past few months, were financial institutions -- including Merrill Lynch & Co., Washington Mutual Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Multiple analysts have issued research notes in recent days expressing concern about banks' and brokerages' exposure to the tight credit markets and the likelihood of subprime mortgage problems spilling into other types of consumer debt.t's likely that as strong as the jobs number was, investors will need to see more evidence of a stronger economy and more stability in the credit markets before they can make any major commitments to stocks.
"I think there is a lot of uncertainty in the markets about the financial institutions in particular," said Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Assoc. in Toronto. "This market will remain volatile until these issues are resolved or until it's had a full 10 percent correction," he said, referring to unease about the extent of write-downs of soured debt.
In midday trading, the Dow fell 19.02, or 0.14 percent, to 13,548.85, after falling more than 100 points earlier in the session.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.58, or 0.17 percent, to 1,505.86, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.17, or 0.29 percent, to 2,803.00.
Bond prices rose as investors pulled more money out of stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, fell to 4.32 percent from 4.35 percent late Thursday.
This week has brought a jumble of contradictory economic news.
The market on Thursday was unnerved by news that consumers cut back their spending in September and that the manufacturing sector expanded in October at the slowest pace since March. But earlier in the week, an initial estimate of third-quarter economic growth came in stronger than economists had expected, at 3.9 percent.
Oil prices rebounded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after dropping sharply Thursday. Prices have been exceptionally volatile in recent days as the market treads through record territory. A barrel of oil jumped $1.65 to $95.14.
The dollar traded mostly lower against other major currencies. The euro bought a record $1.4525 on Friday.
The concerns about the financial sector continued to dominate. Citigroup, fresh off its biggest decline in four years on Thursday, fell anew Friday amid concerns about the bank's capital position. An analyst downgrade on the biggest U.S. bank hastened the stock's fall Wednesday.
Citi fell $1.43, or 3.7 percent, to $37.10.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 764.5 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of small-company stocks, fell 0.45, or 0.06 percent, to 794.73.
European stock markets followed Wall Street lower. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.07 percent, Germany's DAX index shed 0.44 percent, and France's CAC-40 declined 0.28 percent.
Asian markets tumbled in the wake of Wall Street's losses on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 2.09 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 3.25 percent.
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com
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