02/04/2005 - Updated 9:39 AM ET
Stocks steady after jobs data
Jobless rate falls to lowest level since September '01
By Susan Lerner, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks were holding steady early Friday as Wall Street assessed a weaker-than-expected January employment report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average [$INDU] was up 3 points in the opening minutes of trade to 10,596 while the Nasdaq Composite Index [$COMPQ] added 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,059 and the S&P 500 [$SPX] edged almost 1 point to 1,190.
The Labor Department reported that the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 5.4 percent to 5.2 percent in January, the lowest since September 2001. Nonfarm payrolls, however, rose a disappointing 146,000 in the month.
Analysts said the headlines were disappointing but may not be as bad for equities as they would suggest.
"I think for equities at this stage of the cycle we're kind of hoping for Goldilocks type of economic data," said Bryan Piskorowski, market analyst at Wachovia Securities. "Anything on the super strong side I think would create fears that the Fed will have an increased proclivity to tighten. At this point in time to have job creation maybe at a slower than expected pace might be ultimately positive for equities."