New York (dpa) - US stocks slid Friday, weighed down by government data on job and wage growth that cooled Wall Street hopes for lower US interest rates.

Shares in Motorola plunged nearly 8 per cent to 18.94 dollars after the US mobile-phone maker issued a profit warning, also pulling down other technology shares.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 82.68 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 12,398.01. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 8.63, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,409.71, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 19.18, or 0.8 per cent, to 2,434.25.

US government data Friday showed employers added 167,000 jobs last month, an unexpectedly strong gain, and that wages rose 0.5 per cent on the month. The tight labour market points to inflationary risks, making it less likely the US Federal Reserve will loosen monetary policy.

In a three-day trading week to open 2007 that was cut short by New Year's Day and the closure of the markets Tuesday for former US President Gerald Ford's funeral services, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent, the Dow gave up 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq closed 0.8 per cent lower.

The US jobs report helped send the dollar to a six-week high against the euro. The dollar bought 76.91 euro cents Friday compared to 76.43 on Thursday, but fell to 118.63 Japanese yen from 119.05 yen.

Gold fell 19.20 dollars to 609.50 dollars per fine ounce. // © 2006 DPA




Publication date: 07 January 2007   

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