Job Report Helps Halt Stocks’ Losing Streak

Wall Street made a muted advance Friday after a better-than-expected employment report raised hopes about the economy’s strength despite last month’s Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Still, the major equity indexes each lost more than 2.5% for the week, the worst decline since mid-April, amid deepening concerns about inflation and interest rates.

After four straight days of losses, stocks stabilized on news that the economy lost a net 35,000 jobs in September -- far fewer than expected in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

The Dow Jones industrial average, off 281 points in the first four days, rose 60 points at the opening of trading. But the market faded for the rest of the session.

Although winners topped losers by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange and on Nasdaq, the Dow finished with only a slight gain, up 5.21 points, or 0.1%, to 10,292.31.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4.41 points, or 0.4%, to 1,195.90 and the Nasdaq composite rose 6.27 points, or 0.3%, to 2,090.35.

Christopher Piros, a market analyst at Prudential Investment Management, said many investors probably were skeptical of the employment data and its implications for the economy.

“I think the immediate reaction ought to be that we have to wait and see,� he said.

A business trade group report Wednesday said the service sector of the economy slowed sharply in September from August.

The bigger concern, in the near term, may be inflation pressures stemming from high energy prices, and how the Federal Reserve reacts to those pressures.

Stocks were hammered in the first four days of the week as several Fed officials warned that rising inflation posed a threat to the economy. The implication was that the central bank had no plans to stop tightening credit.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.6%, the S&P; 500 lost 2.7% and the Nasdaq dropped 2.8%.

“It does look increasingly like the Fed is just going to keep on tightening until something breaks,� said David Rosenberg, chief U.S. economist at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Oil prices declined for most of the week, but that failed to cheer markets. On Friday near-term crude oil futures edged up 48 cents to $61.84 a barrel, but the price was down from $66.24 a weak earlier.

The bond market, which also was spooked early in the week by inflation fears, was calm Friday. The 10-year Treasury note yield ended at 4.35%, down from 4.39% on Thursday. The yield was 4.33% a week earlier.

The 2-year T-note, which hit a four-year high of 4.21% on Tuesday, ended the week at 4.17%.

Analysts say the next big test for markets may be third-quarter corporate earnings reports, and how companies characterize their prospects for the fourth quarter.

In other market highlights:

* Energy stocks and other commodity issues rebounded from recent losses. Exxon Mobil rose $1.03 to $59.60 and Burlington Resources was up $2.49 to $72.74.

* Blockbuster jumped 97 cents to $5.42. After the close of trading Thursday, the firm said it still anticipated reaching 2 million subscribers in its online rental service next year, but not by the first quarter, its previous target.

Rival Netflix, which last week reported it had 3.6 million users, rose $1.57 to $27.25.

* Consulting firm Accenture climbed $1.42 to $26.67, a day after saying its profit grew 25% in its fiscal fourth quarter.