Weekly Market Wrap: October 5, 2012
Friday, October 5, 5:34 PM ET

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Hi. I'm Sayoko Murase. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for October 5, 2012.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 were all higher for the week.

Crude oil futures are lower this week, trading around $89.89 per barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures are slightly higher this week, trading at $1,777.4 an ounce in afternoon trading.

In notable economic news this week, the economy created 114,000 new jobs in September, while the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent, the first time is below 8 percent in 44 months.

In corporate news this week, retailer Express (EXPR) announced that its third quarter earnings would come in below expectations due to weak sales trends in September. Higher promotional activity to help lower inventory would also be a contributing factor to lower earnings.

Family Dollar Stores (FDO) announced that it earned a higher profit due to food sales, though margins remained tight, and earnings were hit by a litigation settlement. The company earned $80.9 million, or 69 cents per share in the most recent fiscal quarter, up from $79.8 million, or 66 cents per share in the same period last year. Sales increased by 10.8 percent to $2.36 billion, while same store sales increased by 5.4 percent.

Monsanto (MON) announced that it lost 44 cents a share in the most recent fiscal quarter versus a 42 cent loss is the same period last year, two cents below analyst estimates. Revenue fell by 6% to $2.11 billion, below estimates of $2.25 billion. Monsanto projects EPS of $4.18 to $4.32 per share for the year, below average estimates of $4.38.

International Speedway (ISCA) announced a $1 million loss for the third quarter due to a rop in revenue due to a shift in race dates, as well as continued drops in ticket sales. The company also expects that 2012 earnings will be below previously announced estimates.

Online game company Zynga (ZNGA) announced that it expects a loss for the third quarter due to weak demand, as well as costs related to mobile game maker OMGPop. The company expects a loss of 12 to 14 cents per share on revenue of $300 million to $305 million. Analysts had expected a breakeven quarter on revenue of $286.7 million.

This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday October 5, 2012. Please join us on Monday for the 'Week Ahead Market Report."

For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.