US Stocks Wobble Wednesday             02/11 15:27

   U.S. stocks felt both the upside and downside Wednesday of a surprisingly 
strong report that said the nation's unemployment rate improved last month.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks felt both the upside and downside Wednesday of 
a surprisingly strong report that said the nation's unemployment rate improved 
last month.

   After initially rising toward an all-time high, the S&P 500 flipped between 
gains and losses before finishing with a minuscule dip of less than 0.1%. The 
Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 66 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq 
composite fell 0.2%. Both also erased early gains.

   Treasury yields, meanwhile, remained higher in the bond market after the 
Labor Department said U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs to their payrolls last 
month, more than economists expected. That helped calm worries from a day 
earlier, when a discouraging report suggested spending by U.S. households, the 
main engine of the economy, may be stalling.

   On one hand, the strong data on jobs raises hopes that the U.S. economy can 
remain solid and keep driving big profits for companies. Stocks in the energy 
and raw-material industries jumped to some of the bigger gains in the S&P 500, 
for example, and their profits tend to be closely tied to the health of the 
economy.

   Exxon Mobil climbed 2.6%. Smurfit Westrock jumped 9.9% even though the 
packaging company reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected. It gave financial targets for the next five years that some analysts 
found encouraging.

   But on the other hand for the broad stock market, the stronger-than-expected 
jobs data could also keep the Federal Reserve on hold when it comes to cuts to 
interest rates. And higher rates can drag on prices for stocks and all kinds of 
other investments.

   After Wednesday's report showed the tick down for the U.S. unemployment 
rate, traders pushed back their bets for when the Fed could begin cutting 
interest rates again, according to data from CME Group. The bets slid further 
into the summer, after a new Fed chair is set to take the helm.

   If Wednesday's jobs report had shown a rise in the unemployment rate or 
other worsening for the job market, that could have pushed the Fed to resume 
its cuts more quickly.

   Lower rates would give the economy and financial markets a boost, though at 
the cost of potentially worsening inflation. The next monthly update on 
inflation at the U.S. consumer level is arriving on Friday, and it will likely 
be another big influence on the Fed's plans.

   After the jobs report, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.17% 
from 4.16% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more closely 
with expectations for Fed moves, climbed more. It rose to 3.51% from 3.45%.

   To be sure, all is still not perfectly clear for the U.S. economy. 
Wednesday's report included major revisions, which said employers added just 
181,000 jobs for all of last year. That's less than a third of the previously 
reported 584,000, and it's the weakest showing for a year since 2020, when 
COVID-19 shut down the economy.

   The overall jobs report nevertheless looked to be an encouraging signal for 
the economy.

   "We all knew there would be downward revisions, but these were better than 
expected," Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth 
Management, said of the markdowns for 2025.

   On Wall Street, Robinhood Markets fell 8.8% even though the trading and 
investment app reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts 
expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and analysts highlighted 
Robinhood's forecast for expenses in 2026, along with concerns about how long a 
slowdown in crypto trading will last.

   Crypto prices have plunged recently, and bitcoin's price fell toward $67,000 
Wednesday. It's lost close to half its value since setting a record in October.

   Moderna dropped 3.5% after saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is 
refusing to consider its application for a new flu vaccine made with Nobel 
Prize-winning mRNA technology. It's the latest sign of the FDA's heightened 
scrutiny of vaccines under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

   Kraft Heinz recovered from an early loss and added 0.4% after CEO Steve 
Cahillane said he's pausing the company's planned split into two businesses as 
he tries to return it to profitable growth. He also announced a $600 million 
investment across marketing, sales and research and development.

   All told, the S&P 500 edged down by 0.34 to 6,941.47 points. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average dipped 66.74 to 50,121.40, and the Nasdaq composite fell 
36.01 to 23,066.47.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a better 
showing in Asia.

   The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 gained 1.1%, and South Korea's Kospi rose 1% 
for two of the bigger moves.