Thursday: Nervous About the Jobs

By Dave Kansas ,

Stock prices gyrated in a nervous session ahead of Friday's employment data, but at the end of the session major indexes finished little changed.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

gained 14.16 to 6437.10, the

Nasdaq Composite Index

added 3.09 to 1300.11 and the

S&P 500

lost 0.72 to 744.38. Small caps continued to perform well in the shaky market, with the

Russell 2000

stock index of small-cap issues gaining 0.95 to 359.05.

Ahead of the key employment report, Treasury prices fell broadly and the yield on the benchmark 30-year bond rose to 6.50%. Traders said major dealers sold positions in order to record some profits and flatten positions ahead of the jobs report. Economists expect the report to show 179,000 new jobs with some upward pressure on wages.

With interest rates jumping, financial stocks got slammed.

Citicorp

(CCI:NYSE) skidded 4 + to 101 5/8,

BankAmerica

lost 3 1/8 to 96 3/8 and

NationsBank

(NB:NYSE) fell 2 1/8 to 95 +.

Traders reported heavy institutional selling in

IBM

(IBM:NYSE), as big blue lost 3 + to 158 +. Other technology bellwethers also stumbled:

Intel

(INTC:Nasdaq) fell 1 + to 128 +,

Cascade Communications

(CSCC:Nasdaq) slipped + to 69 + and

Micron

(MU:NYSE) dropped 1 3/8 to 33 7/8. Computer makers, though, continued to surge.

Dell

(DELL:Nasdaq) added 3 + to 111 + and

Compaq

(CPQ:NYSE) gained 2 + to 84 5/8.

Oil price gains boosted oil stocks and raised interesting concerns about Christmas.

Exxon

(XON:NYSE) rose 1 1/8 to 95 and

Texaco

(TX:NYSE) added 1 + to 100 3/8. A report from

ISI

, an economics research firm, said higher oil prices have, in the past, translated into weaker retail sales.

Some retailers reported a head start on weak retail sales.

Men's Wearhouse

(SUIT:Nasdaq) dropped 4 3/8 to 21 7/8 and

Gymboree

(GYMB:Nasdaq) skidded 4 5/8 to 23 1/8. Both stocks reported weak November sales.

In takeover chat,

Newmont Gold

(NEM:NYSE) rose 1 1/8 to 48 5/8 after announcing plans to buy

Santa Fe Pacific Gold

(GLD:NYSE). Santa Fe gained 3 to 14 7/8.

Drug stocks slipped. A European court ruling may mean a tougher pricing environment in European markets.

Merck

(MRK:NYSE) slid 1 to 79 +,

Lilly

(LLY:NYSE) lost 1 + to 73 and

Johnson & Johnson

(JNJ:NYSE) dropped 3/8 to 51 5/8.

Networking equipment stocks put in a middling day--with the notable exception of

3Com

(COMS:Nasdaq). 3Com soared 3 to 79 + after upbeat reports flowing from conference presentations. Among other network equipment stocks:

Cisco

(CSCO:Nasdaq) added 1 to 64 + and

Ascend

(ASND:Nasdaq) fell + to 70 +.

Anchor Gaming

(SLOT:Nasdaq) soared 5 to 46 after hiring

Morgan Stanley

in order to "explore" possible restructuring efforts.

Oakley

(OO:NYSE) dropped 3 5/8 to 11 5/8. The shades maker is having trouble selling products to

Sunglass Hut

(RAYS:Nasdaq)--because Sunglass Hut is up to its ears in sunglasses already. Sunglass Hut fell + to 7 3/8.

National Semiconductor

(NSM:NYSE) rose 1 + to 27 + after reporting strong earnings.

By Dave Kansas

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