Summary Box: Stocks drop on uncertainty over monthly employment report
By APThursday, October 7, 2010
Summary Box: Stocks dip ahead of jobs news
GAINS FADE: Stocks started out with moderate gains, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to within two points of 11,000, a level it hasn’t seen since May 4. Indexes drifted lower by the close.
ALL ABOUT THE JOBS: A surprisingly good reading on weekly unemployment applications lifted shares early on, but trepidation ahead of the much more important monthly jobs survey due out Friday kept buyers at bay.
EARNINGS KICKOFF: Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicked off the third-quarter earnings season late Thursday with a 21 percent slide in net income.
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