Stocks inched lower Friday on fears that the U.S. job market may be too cold while the Chinese economy may be too hot. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently off by eight points, or 0.1%, at 10559.55, at risk of snapping a quiet two-day winning streak that had added about 15 points to the blue-chip measure. The Nadsaq Composite Index fell 0.2%. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, hurt by declines in almost every sector except financials, which edged up 0.1%. The materials sector was off 0.4%, hurt by concerns about how demand might suffer from a possible tightening of Chinese monetary policy after a higher-than-expected 2.7% rise in that country's consumer price index for February. China also said industrial production during the first two months of the year expanded at a greater-than-expected pace of 20.7% from a year earlier, offering further evidence of inflationary pressures in an economy that has been one the recent drivers of global growth. AFP/Getty Images Market Data Center Most Actives | Gainers | Losers New Highs and Lows | Money Flows Intraday Futures | Currencies Data: Overview | Treasurys | Forex | Crude | Gold Wall Street is largely resigned to the idea that borrowing costs around the world are due to tick higher this year after a period of extraordinary efforts by central banks to ease the pain of the global financial crisis.[Read more...]