Morgan Stanley Dean Witter cut Guidant's rating yesterday to neutral from outperform. The rest of tonight's action remained quiet and mixed as traders headed home for the weekend. A couple of penny stocks made big percentage moves tonight on Island trading. Bonds also traded off as stocks rallied. The shorter maturities are stronger because of the possibility that interest rates could come down by another 75 basis points by June, Hurley noted.
Yields move inversely to prices.
Prices of longer-dated maturities fall anytime an expectation of higher inflation exists. Paris' CAC-40 was down 15.18 to 5441.89. Markets in Japan were closed for a national holiday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished off 327.15 to 13390.99. The employment figures sent stocks tumbling early on, and the dollar followed suit. With the Japanese markets closed today for the Golden Week holiday and Europe relatively quiet, all eyes were focused on this morning's unemployment and jobs figures.