Tech Stocks Gain as Job Market Stabilizes

The job market got its best news in two years on Friday, but investors seemed unimpressed, as the stock market ended the day well off its best levels.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that the economy lost 11,000 jobs last month, far fewer than economists expected, raising hope that the end may be near for a two-year string of job losses that has left more than 27 million unemployed or underemployed.

The Nasdaq ended the day 1 percent higher, but the Dow and S&P closed with half those gains or less.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) led a strong chip sector.

Marvell jumped 9 percent on a blow-out earnings report.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) finally fell victim to profit-taking after a string of all-time highs, down 2.5 percent to $137.58.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) continued to get hammered by sellers, but VMware (NYSE: VMW) was a big gainer, up 5.7 percent.

Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) was the day’s biggest decliner, down 29 percent on a weak financial outlook, while Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) lost 13 percent on its results.

The Nasdaq rose 21 to 2194, the S&P 500 added 6 to 1105, and the Dow rose 22 to 10,388. Volume rose to 5.78 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.32 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 25-12 margin on the NYSE, and 19-7 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 73 percent on the NYSE, and 74 percent on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 388-68 on the NYSE, and 134-28 on the Nasdaq.