US jobs report slows stocks on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street ended the first week of 2011 with a gain despite being slowed by a disappointing jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 22.55 points, or 0.19%, to 11674.76. But the measure rose 0.84% for the week, its sixth consecutive week in the black.

Historically, the Dow has risen on the year 74% of the time that it was up in the first week. Much of the week's gains were made on Monday and Wednesday.

Monday's rally came on optimism for the new year, while Wednesday's climb followed a stronger-than-expected report on private-sector jobs for December. However, the 103,000 jobs added last month was a disappointment.

The Dow's financial components led its Friday decline, with J.P. Morgan Chase slipping 1.9% and Bank of America 1.3%, both after an unfavourable court ruling on foreclosures in Massachusetts.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.25%, to 2703.17 and the S&P 500 index decreased 0.2% to 1271.50, a 1.1% rise on the week.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia mixed

European stocks ended lower, with Portugal especially weak as euro-zone debt worries persisted. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.2% to 281.02 but managed a weekly gain of 1.9%, marking five weekly advances in the past six.

Portugal's PSI 20 index fell 3%, pressured by a 5.3% tumble in the shares of Banco Espirito Santo. In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 0.6% to 5984.33 but rose 1.4% for the week.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index slipped 1% to 3865.58, leaving it up 1.6% for the week, its sixth climb in the past eight weeks, while in Frankfurt, the DAX 30 index dropped 0.5% to 6947.84, pariing its weekly advance to 0.5%.

In mixed Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell for the first time in eight sessions, Indian shares fell sharply on fears that interest rates could rise sooner than expected. and a weakened yen helped the Nikkei Stock Average edge higher.

The Hang Seng pulled back 0.4% to 23,686.63 after a seven-session rally that sent the benchmark up 5.1%. Even so, that left the index with its best weekly gain in two months, a rise of 2.8%.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5% to 2838.80. India’s Sensex fell 2.4% to 19,691.81, bringing losses for the week to 4%. It was its first weekly loss in four weeks.

In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average added 0.1% to 10,541.04. In Singapore, the Straits Times shed 0.6% to 3261.35, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.4% to 4705.04, and in Seoul, the Kospi added 0.4% to 2086.20.

Commodities: Oil, gold down

Oil prices settled at their lowest level in three weeks after a report showed the US added fewer jobs than expected.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery settled down 35USc, or 0.4%, at $US88.03 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures lost $US1.19, or 1.3%, at $US93.33 a barrel.

Gold prices recouped some earlier losses but settled down. The thinly traded January delivery contract settled down $US2.90, or 0.2%, at $US1,368.50 an ounce in New York.

The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, was down 0.2%, or $US2.80, at $US1368.90.

Currencies: Euro down, dollar up

The euro sank to its lowest level in four months against the US dollar and yen, as concerns over the euro zone's economy displaced lacklustre US jobs growth.

The dollar rallied during the week on the back of expectations that the US economy would show strong job creation in December. But the eurozone's sovereign-debt problems reasserted themselves.

Portugal, widely considered to be one of the euro zone's most fragile economies, is scheduled to sell up to €1.25 billion in debt in the coming week, which is seen as a key test of investor confidence.

The euro fetched $US1.2910, from $US1.3015 on Thursday. The dollar eased to ¥83.04 from ¥83.31. The dollar rose 3.6% on the week against the euro and 2.3% on the yen.

The UK pound strengthened to $US1.5547 from $US1.5475 and was at ¥107.21 from ¥108.43. The dollar was at 0.9670 Swiss franc from 0.9649.