Stocks finish mixed; Nasdaq is the laggard

• Dow and S&P 500 finish higher; Nasdaq composite drops

NEW YORK -- Stocks finished mixed Friday, as the Dow shot up more than 80 points at the close, and the S&P 500 index gained a bit, but the Nasdaq composite index lost 0.4%.

Another bad day for Apple dragged down the Nasdaq index. Apple is its biggest component.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 81.09 points or 0.62% to 13,155.13, , ending the week with a gain of 1%.

The Standard & Poor's 500 finished up 4.13 points or 0.29% at 1,418.07. The Nasdaq composite edged down 11.23 points or 0.38% to 2,978.04, weighed down by Apple, its biggest component.

Rising stocks outnumbered falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was slightly lighter than the recent average, 3.1 billion shares.

Stocks meandered most of the day after a quick runup on the November employment report. They turned mixed as investors dug into the details and House Speaker John Boehner reported no progress on resolving the issues of the fiscal cliff.

The government's closely watched monthly jobs report said the economy created 146,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9% in October.

Analysts had expected only modest job gains because of Superstorm Sandy and business caution because of the looming "fiscal cliff" of federal tax increases and spending cuts.

However, the details of the jobs report painted a much less positive view of the economy and Boehner held a press conferece that offered no joy.

The unemployment rate fell largely because discouraged unemployed workers stopped looking for work, and weren't counted among the unemployed. Also, the Labor Department revised previously released jobs numbers downward, saying that employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.

Nicholas Colas, ConvergEx chief market strategist, wasn't impressed. In a note to clients, he said U.S. unemployment seems to be more consistent with "an ongoing recession than expansion."

In the recession of the early 1990s and its aftermath, the highest rate of unemployment was 7.8%. In the recession of the early 2000s and its aftermath, the unemployment rate never got above 6.3%.

The jobs report also couldn't erase the overhang of other challenges, notably the "fiscal cliff" drama in Washington. Congress and the White House are trying to hammer out an agreement on government spending and tax rates before Jan. 1. If they don't, lower spending and higher taxes will kick in.

The drama has made traders indecisive, as many are unwilling to make any big moves until they know how the budget negotiations will be resolved. The markets have been wishy-washy. In the 21 trading days since the presidential election, the Dow has been up 10 and down 11. So far this week, it's finished up twice and down twice.

News from overseas wasn't encouraging. The Asian Development Bank, a lending institution based in the Philippines, predicted that growth will slow next year in India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other parts of Asia.

Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, sharply slashed its predictions for its own country's economic growth next year. Greece reported that its economy shrank again in the third quarter, by nearly 7%. And earlier this week, the European Central Bank predicted that the recession plaguing the euro zone, which encompasses the 17 countries that use the euro, will continue next year.

Among the U.S. companies making big moves:

—Apple was down $1.96 to $545.28. The move amounted to less than 1%, but it's significant because it's part of a longer trend. Apple's stock has plunged more than 20% since the iPhone 5 went on sale Sept. 21, as investors wonder whether the company, still enjoying immense popularity for the iPhone and iPad, can keep the momentum going. Apple makes up 4% of the S&P 500 index and nearly 12% of Nasdaq, so how it fares can have an enormous effect on the rest of the market.

—AIG, the bailed-out insurance company, jumped nearly 3%, rising 93 cents to $34.19. A group of Chinese companies is reportedly in talks to buy AIG's aircraft leasing unit, which could help AIG raise cash to pay off more of its government loans.

—Cisco Systems, the company that makes Internet networking gear, jumped about 1%, rising 17 cents to $19.65. CEO John Chambers, speaking at the company's analyst day, reportedly told analysts that he expects to expand the company from gear making into software and other services.

In a second report Friday, the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment gauge tumbled to 74.5 in December from 82.7 in November, according to MarketWatch. That's far below the 82.0 expected in a MarketWatch-compiled economist poll.

Stock market indexes in Europe were mixed after the employment and confidence reports.

Earlier, Asian stocks struggled to find a direction. After opening higher, Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended the day 0.2% down at 9,527.39. South Korea's Kospi added 0.4% to 1,957.45. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 4,551.80. Hong Kong's Hang Seng reversed course and closed down 0.3% to 22,191.17.

Mainland Chinese shares posted substantial gains after recent sharp sell-offs. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.6% to 2,061.79. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 2.1% to 786.05.