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Indexes Shrug Off Jobs Miss; Data Center IPO Soars In Debut

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The stock market didn't move much Friday, despite a sluggish job report that saw the unemployment rate fall to 4.2%. (gary yim/Shutterstock)

Stocks ended the week quietly mixed despite a disappointing jobs report that was skewed by the hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

X The Nasdaq eked a 0.1% gain, while the S&P 500 traded in an exceptionally tight range Friday, ending with a loss of 0.1%. The Dow closed fractionally lower. Preliminary data showed volume on the NYSE and Nasdaq coming in about 5% to 10% lower than Thursday's levels.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.6%, the Nasdaq added 1.4% and the S&P 500 rose 1.2%.

Telecom, software and mining stocks outperformed. Oil and gas-related group lagged, hurt by falling oil prices. Benchmark crude oil future settled at $49.29 a barrel, down nearly 3%, as traders focused on Tropical Storm Nate's path toward the Gulf of Mexico.

Nonfarm payrolls fell 33,000 in September, well below the consensus estimate of 100,000 job gains. The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, the lowest since early 2001, but yearly growth in average hourly wages accelerated to 2.9%. The 10-year Treasury yield moved up 2 basis points to 2.37% as many traders viewed accelerated wage growth as hawkish.

In the stock market today, shares of Apple (AAPL) were mostly unchanged after several reports noted the company is investigating isolated reports that iPhone 8 and 8 Plus phones have swelling batteries that are causing the handset to split open. The market didn't think the news was that big a deal as shares ended at 155.30, down less than 0.1%.

Amazon.com (AMZN) followed through after reclaiming the 50-day moving average Thursday. Shares added 0.9% to 989.58. The key price level for Amazon to conquer now is 1,000.

Bloomberg on Thursday reported that Amazon is considering its own delivery service to reduce overcrowding in its warehouses, where Amazon will basically pick up packages from third-party sellers on its platform and delivery them.

Elsewhere, earnings missed at Yum China (YUMC) but sales beat, fueling a 2% gain for the stock to 40.82. Same-store sales at Kentucky Fried Chicken, whose presence in China is the largest of the three chains, rose 7%, above views for a 5% gain. Pizza Hut has been slow to gain traction in China. Its same-store sales were flat but better than forecasts for a 2.2% dip.

Yum China still trying to clear a cup-shaped base with a 42.22 buy point. Yum China was featured as an option in the most recent Earnings Preview column.

Leaderboard name Netflix (NFLX) followed through after Thursday's breakout, rising nearly 2% to 198.02. Thursday's strength was fueled by news the company is raising prices for two out of three of its U.S. streaming plans.

In IPO news, Switch (SWCH) was a solid performer after pricing last night at 17, above the proposed range of 14-16. The data center operator opened at 21.70 and closed at 20.84.

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