Fed Rate Cut Odds Increase
Stocks are lower Friday following news that the unemployment rate rose to the
expected 4.3% level which was up slightly from last month’s 4.2%.
The economy lost 81,000 jobs in March, and that was a big shift away from the
67,000 job increase economists had expected. The decline — the largest since
November 1991 — makes a strong case for an inter-meeting Fed rate cut.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% which was higher than the 0.3% increase
analysts expected. The wage rise may be the one variable this morning that is
keeping markets on edge since it has that slight hint of inflation.
The Dow futures are down 109 points, and the Nasdaq futures are down 23
points.
The S&Ps look to open down 8.40 points while the yield on the 10-year
Treasury is 4.94%.
Friday Movers
Bellwethers Intel
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Friday action. Intel is trading down to 25 1/8 following a 25 5/8 close, and
Cisco is down to 14 7/16 following its Thursday close of 14 3/4.
In the chips, Applied Materials
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down to 41 11/16 following a Thursday close of 42 1/4.
Tellabs
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and that is hitting the stock hard. TLAB had closed Thursday up 3 3/4 to 37 but
is currently trading down to 35 3/4 in pre-market activity.
Sycamore Networks
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high flier sharply lower. Sycamore closed Thursday at 9 1/16 and is currently
trading down to 6 3/4 in pre-market activity. Sycamore traded as high as 153
27/34 in March 2000 following its mid-1999 IPO debut.