Stocks are turning in a lackluster performance in mid-afternoon trading on Friday after giving up the bulk of their earlier gains, as traders considered the possibility of the day's jobs upbeat report being just a brief respite from the weak labor market.
Early buying interest came following the release of a report from the Labor Department, which showed that the pace of job losses in November was the lowest in nearly two years. The data also showed an unexpected decline in the unemployment rate for the month after it reached a 26-year high in October.
Traders also reveled in news that revised figures for the previous couple months showed fewer job losses in October and September than initially reported.
In related news, President Barack Obama had a renewed emphasis on job creation speaking to a crowd at a community college in Allentown, Pennsylvania earlier this afternoon. Despite the day's upbeat jobs data, Obama said there was still more work to be done to fix the ailing economy.
In other news, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Charles Plosser issued similar remarks earlier today, stressing that policy makers should heed a number of lessons from the financial crisis.
The major averages have continued to bounce around near the unchanged mark in recent dealing, continuing to look for direction ahead of the close. While the Dow is currently down 0.98 at 10,365.17, the Nasdaq is up 10.08 at 2,183.22 and the S&P 500 is up 1.84 at 1,101.76.
Dow Components
The Dow is seeing a split performance from its thirty components, resulting in the lack of direction being shown by the blue chip index in mid-afternoon trading.
DuPont (DD) is the Dow's leading decliner, plunging by 7 percent. The stock is backing further off of Tuesday's yearly closing high and is on target for a one-month closing low.
The retreat by shares of the chemical giant has come following news that the firm will delay the release of its corn and soybean seed products.
Travelers (TRV) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are also retreating, falling by 1.7 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. Travelers is on pace to set a monthly closing low, while Exxon is looking to end the session at a three week low.
Alcoa (AA), Caterpillar (CAT) and IBM Corp. (IBM) are also retreating, while significant strength is being show by shares of Bank Of America (BAC) , which are now up by 3.2 percent.
Despite the gain, shares of the banking giant, along with other leading percentage gainers in the Dow, including Intel (INTC) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ), remain in a range.
Sector News
Gold stocks continue to weigh on the markets in mid-afternoon trading, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling by 6.8 percent. With the pullback, the index is backing sharply off of the roughly twenty-month closing high set on Tuesday as the price of gold tumbled off of the historic closing high set in the previous session.
Utility, steel and oil service stocks are also moving notably lower, reflecting weakness in the resource sector.
Meanwhile, airline stocks are holding onto considerable gains. The NYSE Arca Airline Index is up by 2.5 percent after reaching a twenty-one month intraday high earlier in the session.
Electronic storage stocks are also higher, with the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 1.9 percent. The index is being boosted by shares of Hutchinson Technology (HTCH), which are up by 4.8 percent, looking to finish at a seven week high.
Tobacco, commercial real estate and defense stocks are also retaining the majority of their earlier gains.
In Focus: Jobs Data
As mentioned above, the U.S. Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls dropped by 11,000 in November - a significant improvement from the 111,000 jobs lost in October. The figure surprised economists, most of whom had expected job losses to once again top 100,000.
The data also showed that the unemployment rate moved down to 10.0 percent for the month after reaching a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October. The decline was also unexpected, as economists had forecast the rate to remain at 10.2 percent for the month.
Separately, the Commerce Department released its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of October, showing that factory orders increased by 0.6 percent in October following an upwardly revised 1.6 percent increase in September.
Economists had been expecting orders to come in unchanged compared to the 0.9 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stocks markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed on a mixed note on Friday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets finished on the upside by varied margins. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.2 percent, while the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index gained 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
In the bond markets, treasuries have continued to move off of their lows but remain firmly negative. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is trading at 3.467 percent, posting a gain of 8.7 basis points.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.