Todays stock market index composites will have to make up for several days of
negative trending. The market opened on Thursday with stock futures posting a
lower start and closed in the red with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping
139.41 points to 12,48.17, the Nasdaq lost 13.51 points to 2,814.72 and the S&P
500 decreased by 12.22 to 1,335.10. An initial sell off in the energy sector
late Thursday fueled a broad based sell off that pulled the market down. Oil
prices dropped 8% in the largest one day drop since April of 2009, with the
price per barrel dipping below $100. The drop in the market comes on the eve
before the Feds highly anticipated jobs report as anxious investors turn
conservatively cautious. On Thursday the Labor department revealed a significant
increase in first time claims for unemployment in the last week. Although
jobless claims have risen recently, economists forecast the unemployment rate to
remain the same , while showing an addition of 185,000 jobs in the month of
April. This did not happen however and all eyes will be focused to observe the
weeks ending. Today, investors will process the Labor Departments full jobs
report due to post this morning. The unemployment rate is expected to remain
about the same at 8.8 percent nationally. Constellation Energy is due to post
earnings as is the Washington Post Company and Weight Watchers International.
Author: Frank Matto
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