Strong Jobs Data Sink Stocks

"Stock investors [are] trying to balance the positive impact falling crude will have against the weakening economy," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald. "We still don't have the data points to suggest a hard landing, but the market is clearly getting nervous that Goldilocks may have been harboring a deep, dark secret."

In other commodities, gold was dropped $19.30 to finish at $606.90 an ounce, and silver futures dumped 61 cents to $12.23 an ounce.

New York equities have had an up-and-down first week of 2007. On Thursday, tech stocks surged and blue chips rallied late to end slightly higher. The Nasdaq was the star, soaring 30.27 points, or 1.25%, to 2453.43, thanks to an advance in Intel (INTC Quote).

However, after the last session's close, cell-phone giant Motorola (MOT Quote) chopped its forecast, saying its results for the quarter just ended will be well below analysts' expectations. The warning put pressure on the technology space. Motorola tumbled $1.61, or 7.8%, to $18.94.

Elsewhere, Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of the world's biggest automaker, GM (GM Quote), told a group of reporters that his company will work to fight a threat from Toyota (TM Quote) to replace it at the top. He said new job cuts might be needed and that the company would pursue added cost savings. GM added 60 cents, or 2%, to close at $30.24.

Electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY Quote) said December same-store sales rose 7% from a year ago, driven by strong results in Canada and online. Best Buy rose 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $50.

Rival Circuit City (CC Quote) posted a 4.5% rise in comp sales for December and boosted its guidance for the fiscal year. However, shares fell 3.6% to finish at $19.29.

Among ratings moves, JPMorgan cut Dell (DELL Quote) to underweight from neutral, citing margin pressure and tough competition in the corporate PC market. Shares finished lower by 8 cents, or 0.3%, at $26.16.

Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.5% to 17,091, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.9% to 20,211. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was down 1.1% to 6220. Germany's Xetra DAX was off 1.2% to 6593.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting