Qa'dah 21, 1431 H/Oct 29, 2010, SPA -- Stocks finished mixed Thursday, as investors lowered their expectations for an aggressive move by the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy. In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released lower-than-expected jobless claims figures, with the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment falling to a 3-month low of 434,000-a decline of 21,000 from the previous week. Economists expected claim to rise to 458,000. In company news, Halliburton stock fell eight percent after a report from federal investigators suggested the oil services company knew the cement it used on the BP (British Petroleum) oil well was unstable. General Motors announced a deal to repay taxpayers for last year's $50 billion government aid, saying that it will repurchase $2.1 billion in preferred stock held by the Treasury Department. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery rose 24 cents to $82.18 a barrel. Gold futures rose $19.90 to $1,342.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.33, or 0.1 percent, to 11,113.95. Shares of Exxon Mobil rose 0.8 percent after the oil giant reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.33, or 0.1 percent, to 1,183.78. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 4.11, or 0.2 percent, to 2,507.37.
