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Bolsa, mercados y cotizaciones

Wall Street slips on job woes, but up for quarter


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as a report showing a surprising drop in private- sector employment stoked concerns about the health of the labor market two days before the government's key payrolls data.

    But the three major U.S. stock indexes rose for a fourth straight quarter, as investors continued to pour money into equities on bets the economic recovery is, overall, in good shape.

    On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 50.79 points, or 0.47 percent, to close unofficially at 10,856.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 3.84 points, or 0.33 percent, to end unofficially at 1,169.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 12.73 points, or 0.53 percent, to finish unofficially at 2,397.96.

    For the first quarter, the Dow rose 4.1 percent, the S&P 500 gained 4.9 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 5.7 percent.

    (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)