<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/friday.gif" border=0> Stocks slip as investors await signs on economy

June 12, 2009 09:54 am

— NEW YORK (AP) — Stock are moderately lower as investors weigh recent signs of economic recovery and wonder what will be able to take the market higher.
Investors get a new reading on consumer sentiment Friday morning. Growing consumer confidence is important to a recovery because their spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity.
A stronger dollar is pushing down oil prices and commodity stocks. In the early going, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 41 at 8,730. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is down 6 at 939. The Nasdaq composite index is down 14 at 1,848.