01/08/2003 17:36
Wall Street opened lower on Friday as employment data gave mixed messages to US investors, with payrolls falling unexpectedly, but also a larger fall in the unemployment rate than was expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 15.40 in early trading to 9,218.40, while the S&P 500 was down 2.97 to 987.34. The Nasdaq Composite was off 2.20 to 1,732.82.
As earnings season crawls toward the finish line, investo Released before the opening bell, the key non-farm payrolls and unemployment data surprised markets at both levels. Expecting America's employers to have added jobs to their payrolls, the number of jobs fell by 44,000 in June, following last month's fall of 30,000. The unemployment rate fell to 6.2 per cent from 6.4 per cent, against expectations of a fall to 6.3 per cent.
Also after trade started, the University of Michigan said its revised reading of consumer sentiment rose in July, with its key index climbing to 90.9, up from 89.7 in June.
Investors applauded Walt Disney's results, sending the shares up 3.5 per cent to $22.69. After the close on Thursday, the media company reported earnings of 19 cents a share, up from the 17 cents it reported a year earlier and beating forecasts of 16 cents a share.
Johnson & Johnson shares slid 2.4 per cent to $50.56, after Merrill Lynch downgraded it to "neutral" from "buy." Analyst Daniel Lemaitre wrote "myriad" issues will likely keep J&J's multiple down. Among others, he wrote that the company's reign "as 'King of the Hill' in medical stents may be short-lived" after a botched product launch has made doctors eager for products from other competitors.
Altria, parent of Philip Morris, rose 1.6 per cent to $40.64 as investors breathed a sigh of relief that a Los Angeles jury refused to hold the company liable for a smoker's lung cancer.
In early trade the morning's biggest riser on the Nasdaq market was Biopure, the developer of oxygen theapies, climbing 34.1 per cent to $8. The company said federal regulators did not require more clinical trials for the company's blood substitute, as analysts had expected.
But all was not well in healthcare. SonoSite, the maker of ultrasound imaging devices was the Nasdaq's worst loser, shedding 28.6 per cent to $15.70, after the company reported disappointing revenues.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 15.40 in early trading to 9,218.40, while the S&P 500 was down 2.97 to 987.34. The Nasdaq Composite was off 2.20 to 1,732.82.
As earnings season crawls toward the finish line, investo Released before the opening bell, the key non-farm payrolls and unemployment data surprised markets at both levels. Expecting America's employers to have added jobs to their payrolls, the number of jobs fell by 44,000 in June, following last month's fall of 30,000. The unemployment rate fell to 6.2 per cent from 6.4 per cent, against expectations of a fall to 6.3 per cent.
Also after trade started, the University of Michigan said its revised reading of consumer sentiment rose in July, with its key index climbing to 90.9, up from 89.7 in June.
Investors applauded Walt Disney's results, sending the shares up 3.5 per cent to $22.69. After the close on Thursday, the media company reported earnings of 19 cents a share, up from the 17 cents it reported a year earlier and beating forecasts of 16 cents a share.
Johnson & Johnson shares slid 2.4 per cent to $50.56, after Merrill Lynch downgraded it to "neutral" from "buy." Analyst Daniel Lemaitre wrote "myriad" issues will likely keep J&J's multiple down. Among others, he wrote that the company's reign "as 'King of the Hill' in medical stents may be short-lived" after a botched product launch has made doctors eager for products from other competitors.
Altria, parent of Philip Morris, rose 1.6 per cent to $40.64 as investors breathed a sigh of relief that a Los Angeles jury refused to hold the company liable for a smoker's lung cancer.
In early trade the morning's biggest riser on the Nasdaq market was Biopure, the developer of oxygen theapies, climbing 34.1 per cent to $8. The company said federal regulators did not require more clinical trials for the company's blood substitute, as analysts had expected.
But all was not well in healthcare. SonoSite, the maker of ultrasound imaging devices was the Nasdaq's worst loser, shedding 28.6 per cent to $15.70, after the company reported disappointing revenues.
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