Stocks Struggle for Direction on Jobs, Retail Data

Updated from 9:42 a.m. EST

After a downside open, stocks on Wall Street were experiencing spiky trading Thursday, as a slew of big-name companies announced layoffs and European central banks cut interest rates to mitigate a deepening recession abroad.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was falling 46 points to 8545, and the S&P 500 was down 5.5 points to 865. The Nasdaq slipped 8.4 points to 1484.

Layoffs and salary reductions were dominating the day's early headlines. Executives at Citigroup (C Quote), along with director and senior adviser Robert Rubin, were willing to go without bonuses this year, according to a report by the Financial Times. ...