Stocks are indicated modestly higher after the Labor Department’s latest payroll report showed an unexpected decline in the unemployment rate Friday morning. Thirty minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at a modest early gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The Labor Department reports that the US economy lost 20,000 jobs in January, which was worse than the 14,000 increase in jobs economists had predicted. Making matters worse, December numbers were revised down to show a loss of 150,000, down from the -85,000 first reported.

However, after a 269-point plunge in the Dow Thursday, a bad report had been discounted and the data contained a few bright spots. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7 percent from 10 percent. Economists had expected the rate of unemployed to stay steady. Average hourly earnings rose .3 percent, and better than expectations of +.2 percent.

Stock index futures edged higher on the data and bonds gave back some of the big gains seen the day before. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is down 5/32nd and now yields 3.63 percent.

The dollar added .61 to 89.61 against the Japanese yen. Euro woes continue. The euro-zone currency is down another .0007 to 1.3719 against the buck.

Crude oil added .40 to $73.44 a barrel. Gold is steady at $1063 an ounce.

Among the stocks to watch, Mastercard (MA) might bounce back from post-earnings losses suffered yesterday after Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform. Beazer Homes (BZH) gained 2.7 percent on earnings news. Tyson (TSN) is also up on earnings. However, Leap Wireless (LEAP) fell 5 percent after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to Underweight. Aetna (AET) and Sunoco (SUN) are trading lower on earnings.


Source: Bloomberg.com