Amazon, Jobs Report Sink Stocks

Disappointing results from Amazon.com and unexpected inflationary pressures in the government’s monthly jobs report sent stocks lower for a second day Friday.

Amazon fell 10% after missing sales estimates. Analysts were also concerned that expenses continue to outgrow sales at the online retailing giant. Following other recent disappointments from the likes of Google and Yahoo , investors were in no mood to hold Internet shares Friday, sending the sector to a 2% loss on the day.

The jobs report unnerved investors after it showed that wages grew at a 0.4% rate for the second straight month, suggesting that the Federal Reserve may be forced to raise interest rates longer than hoped. Stocks have rallied in recent months on expectations that the Fed will soon be done with its 19-month rate hike campaign, but Friday’s jobs report and Thursday’s unexpected decline in productivity have called those assumptions into question.

The Nasdaq lost 19 to 2262, the S&P 500 fell 6 to 1284, and the Dow declined 58 to 10,793. Volume declined to 2.28 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.27 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 19-13 on the NYSE, and 16-13 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 66% on the NYSE, and 73% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 97-35 on the NYSE, and 108-32 on the Nasdaq.

BEA gained 7% after raising estimates, and Rackable Systems and WebEx rose on their results.

Gateway , Cerner , Bookham , Cohu and SafeNet fell on their earnings reports.