Jobs Jar the Markets — Friday’s IP Market Recap

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InvestorPlace Market RecapInvestors took it on the chin Friday as a disappointing jobs report sent the markets down to the canvas, where they never recovered.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down 1.27% at 13,038, with the S&P 500 falling 1.61% to 1,369, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq taking a powder at 2,956, down 2.25%.

More than half the Dow components took plunges of 1% or worse on the day, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) shedding 3% on news that the company will cut 2,000 jobs. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) followed its banking neighbor down 2.93%.

The Labor Department showed 115,000 new jobs created in April, a far cry from the 160,000 jobs forecast by economists, and well behind revised March numbers of 154,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1% as 342,000 workers dropped out of the labor force. At this point, the portion of the working-age population participating in the job market is 63.6%, the lowest level since 1981.

Oil prices dipped below $100 per barrel and the average price of gas at the pump now stands at $3.80. Lower demand and stability in Iran contributed to the fall, a welcome sight heading into the summer season.

LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) announced on Thursday that its net income and revenues jumped in the first quarter. LinkedIn also said that it had agreed to buy SlideShare, a business content sharing site, for about $119 million. LNKD was up sharply on the news, rising 7% to $119, one of the few good-news moves of the day.

Three Up

  • LeapFrog (NYSE:LF): Up 14.7% ($1.32) to $10.30 (Read more about LeapFrog here).
  • Renren (NYSE:RENN): Up 5.7% (36 cents) to $6.70.
  • United Continental (NYSE:UAL): Up 3.3% (71 cents) to $22.28.

Three Down

  • Nokia (NYSE:NOK): Down 11% (39 cents) to $22.28.
  • Arena Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:ANRA): Down 6.5% (18 cents) to $2.60.
  • Amko (NASDAQ:AMKR): Down 5.5% (27 cents) to $4.63.

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/05/a-loss-on-jobs-and-markets-fridays-ip-market-recap-bac-jpm-lnkd-lf/.

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