Stocks Rebound As Jobs Data Overcome Retail Woes

• DJIA -2.72 (-0.02%) to 12415.70
• S&P +3.76 (+0.29%) to 1281.06
• Nasdaq +21.50 +0.8% to 2669.86

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Nikkei down 0.8%
• Hang Seng up 0.5%.
• Shanghai Composite down 1.0%.
• FTSE-100 down 0.8%.

Stocks rebounded late to finish just in the black, with low yields for bonds pushing many investors back into equities. Financial and technology stocks led the recovery, with the many of the best gains found on the technology-heavy Nasdaq exchange.

The rally began around lunch time following declines spurred by several retailers paring their upcoming fourth-quarter profit forecasts. A surprisingly strong ADP jobs report issued this morning finding U.S. employers added 325,000 private sector jobs during December did little to initially boost equities.

The U.S. Department of Labor tomorrow reports its monthly non-farm payrolls survey. Economists are expecting 150,000 new jobs, the highest number since June 2010, according to Bloomberg. The labor agency today said fewer Americans filed first-time jobless claims, with applications falling by 15,000 to 372,000 last week. That was better than the 375,000 new claims economists polled by Bloomberg were expecting.

Light, sweet crude oil for February delivery was set to settle at $101.71, down $1.51 a barrel, according to preliminary data from the CME Group. Prices were higher through most of the morning before the weekly EIA inventory report reported U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 2.20 million barrels to 329.70 million barrels last week. Gasoline and natural gas inventories also rose.

In company news:

Barnes & Noble (BKS) slashed its guidance for the current year and said it is exploring a plan to separate its Nook electronic-book business, sending shares 17% lower. The company now expects a quarterly loss as high as $1.40 per share on $7 billion to $7.2 billion in revenues. It previously forecast a per-share loss of between 10 cents to 50 cents on $7.4 billion in revenues.

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) also sharply trimmed its fiscal fourth-fourth quarter guidance as sales and traffic were softer than anticipated. Target Corp. (TGT) also lowered its earnings outlook for the quarter. Both stocks finished lower but were sharply above their morning lows. Macy's Inc. (M), meanwhile, reported a 6.2% rise in same-store sales and raised its full-year financial projections. The department store operator also doubled its quarterly dividend and unveiled an additional $1 billion in stock buybacks.

Dendreon Corp. (DNDN) was sharply higher, climbing as much as 52% before easing to a 39.7% gain, after the maker of the prostate-cancer drug Provenge said Q4 product revenue more than tripled from a year earlier.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) ZUMZ (+17.5%) Raises guidance; Credit Suisse boostes target price.

(+) OCLR (+15.6%) Preliminary Q2 revenues top guidance, sees $86Mln vs $80.7Mln

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) OSH, (-24.9%) New 52-Week low, forecasts 2011 net loss