CLOSING BELL

Dow 10674.98  -5.45, Nasdaq 2293.06  -10.5, S&P 1125.81  -1.43 

Stocks were lower today on light volume.  The weakness in the market today and low volume can be attributed to the release of the jobless numbers today.

Jobless claims came in at 479,000 versus the 460,000 expected; this is a three month high.  Continuing claims came in at 4,537,000 versus 4,500,000 that economists had expected.  This lead traders to take a pause ahead of tomorrow’s official nonfarm payroll numbers.  Economists are looking for 70,000 new jobs created and the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 9.6%.

Advancing Sectors: Materials +0.3%, Telecom +0.3%, Consumer Discretionary +0.2%, Industrials +0.1%, Energy +0.1%
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples -0.4%, Financials -0.4%, Tech -0.4%, Health Care -0.1%
Unchanged: Utilities