Dow ends up 11
after wild ride

NEW YORK - Stocks seesawed today, first rallying on a positive jobs report, then retreating on concerns over tensions in the Middle East, before bouncing back by the end of the trading day.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.05 to close at 8,038.58. The blue-chip index had risen as much as 116.89 points in early trading, then slipped over 71 points by mid-afternoon.

It's the third straight close above for the Dow above 8,000, but the blue-chip barometer still isn't near its Aug. 6 peak of 8,259.31.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 5-to-3 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,837 up, 1,099 down and 489 unchanged. NYSE volume totaled 619.42 million shares vs. 472.71 million yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list rose 4.57 to 965.03, and the NYSE composite index rose 2.26 to 505.69. The Nasdaq composite index rose 13.45 to 1,715.86, and the American Stock Exchange composite index rose 4.96 to 709.92.

Stocks rallied this morning, following bonds higher after the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent in September, remaining near a 24-year low.

Bond prices immediately shot higher after the jobs report was released. But the early gains in stocks and bonds were mostly erased by mid-afternoon on concerns that turmoil in the Middle East could disrupt oil supplies.

By late afternoon, the Treasury yield was at 6.28 percent, only slightly lower than 6.29 percent late yesterday. Yields move in the opposite direction of bond prices.