Jobs Rally Fizzles; Stocks Mixed

Cautious market not fully inspired by jobs, Fed action
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted May 2, 2008 3:37 PM CDT
Jobs Rally Fizzles; Stocks Mixed
People wait in line to enter a job fair in New York, Wednesday, April 16, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

The markets ended mixed today as a rally spurred by news of fewer April job losses than expected and the Fed's bank-liquidity expansion died down before the closing bell, MarketWatch reports. The Dow rose 48.20, closing at 13,058.20, and the S&P 500 gained 4.56 to end at 1,413.90. The Nasdaq fell 3.72, closing at 2,476.99.

"The story is the same,” explained one analyst as to why today's rally lost steam. “We had a pretty good week on better-than-expected earnings on balance, and the moves in monetary policy that we wanted. And then Friday rolls around, and we become more risk-adverse and take profits.” (More Federal Reserve stories.)

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