Stocks mixed amid euro worry, Labor report
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Wall Street was headed to a lower opening, Thursday, with Dow Jones futures down 0.2 percent and S&P 500 futures losing 0.2 percent (April 2, 2012) Credit: AP
Stocks just had their worst week of the new year.
The Standard & Poor's 500 ended a shortened trading week down 0.7 percent. Though modest compared to the scary drops last year, it's the worst since the week ended Dec. 16, 2011.
Stock trading will be closed for the Good Friday holiday.
Investors sold stocks Thursday on fears that Spain may have trouble paying back its debt after a key interest rate on Spanish government bonds rose to the highest point since November.
"The firewall that Europe has established is in no way adequate to handle a Spanish default," said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "We're hopeful that [its debt] will be manageable, but we're not sure."
The S&P 500 fell 0.88 point Thursday to close at 1,398.08. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.61 points to 13,060.14. The Nasdaq composite rose 12.41 points to 3,080.50.
The Dow and S&P fell right after the opening bell, then turned up briefly before dropping again.
The selling appeared to be tempered by a Labor Department report early Thursday that the number of people seeking jobless benefits fell to a four-year low.
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