Stocks were up slightly today, with investors appearing tentative after yesterday’s rally.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.2 percent, or 19 points, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index also was up 0.2 percent, or 2 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.4 percent, or 8 points.
Stocks rallied yesterday, jumping nearly 3 percent, after positive manufacturing data raised optimism that the economy is stabilizing. But investors’ resolve will be tested later this week when government unemployment data are released. Economists forecast that employers will have shed another 530,000 jobs last month and that the jobless rate will rise to 9.2 percent, from 8.9 percent.
“In the last eight months there have been extraordinary measures taken. All of these measure have not stopped job losses from continuing. They have not stopped home values from falling,” said Charles Ortel, managing director of Newport Value Partners in New York.
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