Investing.com - Wall Street shares teetered between mild losses and modest gains in mid-day trade Friday, encouraged by better-than-expected unemployment figures and reports of European Central Bank movement to assist debt-threatened member Italy.
In mid-day U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06% to 11,504, the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.12% to 2,559 and the S%P 500 advanced 0.77% to 1,210.
Early in the session, the U.S. Labor Department released July figures showing a drop in unemployment to 9.1%, outpacing the 9.2% figure expected by economists.
The market quickly reversed gains made following the promising labor numbers, threatening to post losses for the 11th session out of the last 10 trading days.
But reports that the European Central Bank was prepared to purchase Italian bonds in return for promises of further economic reforms helped to lift shares across the board in New York.
The European Central Bank on Thursday, after a four-month lapse, began buying government bonds from Ireland and Portugal but stopped short of purchases from key debt-threatened members Italy and Span.
European Central Bank Council member Luc Coene Friday said that the ECB would be willing to buy more bonds of deficit-hit countries once they take concrete steps to stabilize their finances.
Individual movers in the U.S. session included General Motors Co. which reported it had overtaken Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. as the world’s largest automaker, as GM sales picked up by 8.9% in the first half of the year.
Toyota production nosedived 23% during the same period, due to production disruptions following the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis.
But GM forecasts of weaker earnings in the second half of the year sent shares lower by 2.8%.
Viacom Inc. rose 0.66% after the company announced that third-quarter profit surged 37% on the strength of increased advertising revenue.
And key Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. led a charge by energy companies as crude oil future rose on expectations of increased demand.
Exxon Mobil added 1.47%.
The market was expected to focus on next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve decision on short-term interest rates for any possible change in monetary policy.
In mid-day U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.06% to 11,504, the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.12% to 2,559 and the S%P 500 advanced 0.77% to 1,210.
Early in the session, the U.S. Labor Department released July figures showing a drop in unemployment to 9.1%, outpacing the 9.2% figure expected by economists.
The market quickly reversed gains made following the promising labor numbers, threatening to post losses for the 11th session out of the last 10 trading days.
But reports that the European Central Bank was prepared to purchase Italian bonds in return for promises of further economic reforms helped to lift shares across the board in New York.
The European Central Bank on Thursday, after a four-month lapse, began buying government bonds from Ireland and Portugal but stopped short of purchases from key debt-threatened members Italy and Span.
European Central Bank Council member Luc Coene Friday said that the ECB would be willing to buy more bonds of deficit-hit countries once they take concrete steps to stabilize their finances.
Individual movers in the U.S. session included General Motors Co. which reported it had overtaken Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. as the world’s largest automaker, as GM sales picked up by 8.9% in the first half of the year.
Toyota production nosedived 23% during the same period, due to production disruptions following the March 11 earthquake and tsunamis.
But GM forecasts of weaker earnings in the second half of the year sent shares lower by 2.8%.
Viacom Inc. rose 0.66% after the company announced that third-quarter profit surged 37% on the strength of increased advertising revenue.
And key Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. led a charge by energy companies as crude oil future rose on expectations of increased demand.
Exxon Mobil added 1.47%.
The market was expected to focus on next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve decision on short-term interest rates for any possible change in monetary policy.