US Stocks Mixed in Early Trade
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks are mixed Friday morning as companies that pay large dividends trade higher. Real estate and phone companies are rising. Technology companies are recovering from a steep loss a day ago. Banks are slipping after a huge rally following the presidential election last month, and the Dow Jones industrial average is slightly below a record high reached the day before.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,178 as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,195. The Nasdaq composite rose 12 points, or 0.2 percent, to 5,262.
US JOBS DATA: U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in November, a solid result that was about equal to Wall Street projections. However, fewer people looked for work and hourly wages slipped. Still, the results cemented market expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again this month.
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BONDS: Bond prices, which have been falling sharply in recent weeks, rose in early trading. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.39 percent from 2.45 percent. 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. Public Storage rose $5.88, or 2.8 percent, to $213.74 and Exelon rose $1.01, or 3.1 percent, to $33.18.
BOWING OUT: Starbucks shares slid $1.50, or 2.6 percent, to $57.01 after the company said Howard Schultz will step down as CEO in April. He will remain chairman of the company and President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson will become CEO. Schultz has been CEO of Starbucks since 2008.
BANKS: Charles Schwab declined 61 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $39 and Citigroup fell 59 cents, or 1 percent, to $56.68 as banks opened lower. The S&P 500 index of financial stocks is at its highest price since 2008, and it's up 14 percent since the presidential election.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 9 cents to $51.15 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, picked up 5 cents to $53.99 a barrel in London. Oil prices jumped 13 percent over the last two days after OPEC countries agreed to trim their production of the fuel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 113.73 yen from 114.04 yen. The euro rose to $1.0652 from $1.0645.
OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX was down 0.5 percent and the CAC-40 in France fell 1 percent. The FTSE 100 index in British was 0.7 percent lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 index shed 0.5 percent and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 1.4 percent.
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