US stocks fluctuate after payroll data

NEW YORK, Dec 7, 2007 (AP) -- US stocks fluctuated in early trading Friday after investors interpreted fairly tame employment data as giving the Federal Reserve more room to cut interest rates next week.

Investors were encouraged after the Labor Department reported 94,000 jobs were added to payrolls in November and that the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7 percent. These were signs the nation's employment was holding up amid a housing slump and rising energy prices.

But the numbers didn't indicate that the economy might be growing faster than anticipated, which gives Fed policymakers leeway to cut rates when they meet Tuesday. Economists are still debating whether the Fed will drop rates by a quarter percentage point or finish the year with a half-point cut.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrials rose 20.41, or 0.15 percent, to 13,640.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.81, or 0.12 percent, to 1,509.15, while the Nasdaq composite index dipped 4.43, or 0.16 percent, to 2,704.60.

Wall Street began to rally last week, and the gains continued Thursday with a 174-point jump in the Dow Jones industrials; investors got some relief from concerns about the housing slump and credit crisis when the White House offered a plan to prevent home foreclosures.

Bond prices fell Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.05 percent from 4.02 percent late Thursday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.82 to $88.41 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Government data released earlier this week showed an increase in U.S. supplies of gasoline and distillates.

Macrovision Corp., which develops technology to prevent unauthorized copying and viewing of video, music and other content, said it will buy television listings provider Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. for $2.8 billion in cash and stock.

Shares of Macrovision slid $6.82, or 26.2 percent, to $19.17. Gemstar-TV shares lost 77 cents, or 12.9 percent, to $5.21.

James Murdoch was appointed News Corp.'s chairman and chief executive for Europe and Asia, officials said Friday. This most likely positions him as a successor to his father, Rupert Murdoch.

Palm Inc. dropped $1.01, or 15.3 percent, to $5.58 after the hand-held computer maker cut its revenue outlook because of shipping delays.

And, gun maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. edged lower after cutting its 2008 outlook. Its shares shed $2.99, or 30.1 percent, to $6.93.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.52 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 2.42 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.78 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.57 percent, and France's CAC-40 increased 1.07 percent.

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