Business news with words department+earnings+spending. 4 news.

AP - Wall Street headed for a lower open Thursday after the Labor Department's consumer price report and J.C. Penney Co.'s disappointing earnings report raised concerns about the strength of consumer spending.

WALL Street finished a quiet session modestly higher yesterday as Wall Street awaited the government's September employment report, hoping it will strike a balance between steady growth and more room for interest rate cuts. Yesterday's economic data, which showed a gain in jobless claims and a drop in factory orders, gave investors little incentive to make any big moves ahead of the payrolls report. Wall Street appears optimistic that the Labor Department report today will indicate a rebound from August and include revisions to that month's dismal numbers. August's job creation report showed a decline in payrolls when economists had predicted a rise, and sent the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 250 points the day it was released. Since then, the Federal Reserve has lowered a key interest rate and the Dow quickly bounced back to where it was in mid-July, before the credit markets tightened up and caused stocks to fall sharply. Today's report is important because this year's relatively stable job market has been an important prop for the US economy, helping to offset the housing slump and sluggish growth. "The jobs report can be a real distraction for the market, and with good reason. The number of people working, where they work, how much they get paid, tells us a whole lot about the economy," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at Trusco Capital Management. "In the meantime, the markets are pretty much treading water. A strong report tomorrow will revive notions that the Fed is one and done. If the report continues to be soft, that's going to suggest more easing coming our way." But while investors are angling for the Fed to lower rates again when it meets October 30-31 -- which would spur spending by making borrowing cheaper -- they don't want the job market to weaken. When people don't have incomes, they tend to trim spending and can become delinquent in their bill payments. "A relatively strong employment report will be good news for stocks in that it will help support profit growth," Gayle said. "Obviously Fed rate cuts are good, but more earnings is always the best." The Dow rose 6.26, or 0.04 percent, to 13,974.31, after shooting to a record high Monday and then giving back a large chunk of its gains Tuesday and Wednesday. Broader stock indicators were also little changed on the day, which was notable for its low volume and low volatility. The Standard & Poor's 500 ind

Stocks dipped a bit Friday, the last trading day of the third quarter, with Wall Street relieved about solid readings on the economy but cautious ahead of October's corporate earnings reports. The market's losses were small, thanks to positive reports on consumer spending, construction spending, inflation and Midwest manufacturing. Though strong economic data might lower the chance that the Federal Reserve will further reduce rates, the tame inflation measure kept hopes of a rate cut alive. Last week, the Fed, reacting to August's tightening credit and plunging stocks, helped restore confidence in the financial markets by decreasing the federal funds rate target by a half-point to 4.75 percent. The central bank's rate decrease, the first in four years, helped the major stock indexes finish in positive territory for the quarter. "A second Fed cut will go a long way in reassuring the stock market that the worst is over. The focus going forward will be whether the Fed is going to lower rates to shore this up, or decide the risk of inflation is too high," said Janna Sampson, director of portfolio management at Oakbrook Investments. Though energy and food prices are surging, core inflation has been within the Fed's comfort zone of 1 to 2 percent. The Commerce Department's consumer spending report showed that a key core inflation gauge logged a year-over-year rise in August of 1.8 percent -- the smallest increase since 2004.

STOCKS dipped a bit yesterday, the last trading day of the third quarter, with Wall Street relieved about solid readings on the economy but cautious ahead of October's corporate earnings reports. The market's losses were small, thanks to positive reports on consumer spending, construction spending, inflation and Midwest manufacturing. Though strong economic data might lower the chance that the Federal Reserve will further reduce rates, the tame inflation measure kept hopes of a rate cut alive. Last week the Fed, reacting to August's tightening credit and plunging stocks, helped restore confidence in the financial markets by decreasing the federal funds rate target by a half point to 4.75 percent. The central bank's rate decrease, the first in four years, helped the major stock indexes finish in positive territory for the quarter. "A second Fed cut will go a long way in reassuring the stock market that the worst is over. The focus going forward will be whether the Fed is going to lower rates to shore this up, or decide the risk of inflation is too high," said Janna Sampson, director of portfolio management at Oakbrook Investments. Though energy and food prices are surging, core inflation has been within the Fed's comfort zone of 1 percent to 2 percent. The Commerce Department's consumer spending report showed that a key core inflation gauge logged a year-over-year rise in August of 1.8 percent _ the smallest increase since a similar rise in February 2004. But continuing to weigh on investors is the concern that corporate profits dropped off in the third quarter. Yesterday is the last trading day of one of the most volatile periods in years, one that pulled stocks sharply lower after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record 14,000.41 in mid-July. Wall Street now is bracing for signs, ahead of the mid-October onslaught of earnings reports, of how companies fared during the summer's tumult. The Dow slipped 17.31, or 0.12 percent, to 13,895.63. The blue-chip index ended the third quarter 3.6 percent higher, and is up 11.5 percent for the year. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 4.63, or 0.30 percent, to 1,526.75, finishing the quarter up 1.6 percent. The S&P is up 7.7 percent for the year. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.09, or 0.30 percent, to 2,701.50, and closed the quarter with a gain of 3.8 percent. The Nasdaq is up 11.9 percent for the year. But the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies has not recover