Economic news was not as positive today as it had been earlier this week, and that definitely had an effect on U.S. markets. First, the Department of Commerce released their October 2010 Full Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders (found here) which revealed that new orders for manufactured goods were down .9 percent in October. Orders excluding transportation were down .2 percent.
Then, continuing the lackluster economic news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their Employment Situation Summary (found here) for November. The report notes that the unemployment rate increased to 9.8 percent in November, breaking the three-month trend of a 9.6 percent unemployment rate.
As a result of the poor manufacturing news and surprisingly bad employment news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down for most of the day. It managed to pick up a little steam before the market closed and ended the day rising 19.68 points to 11,382.09. The Nasdaq was up 12.11 points to 2,591.46 and the S&P 500 rose 3.18 points to 1,224.71.
European and Asian markets were mixed.
Stocks in the news: Big Lots Inc (NYSE: BIG), Sunoco Incorporated (NYSE: SUN), Aeropostale Inc (NYSE: ARO).
