Mixed Close Over Job Losses

The markets closed mixed with the Dow rising 22 points to 10,967 as jobs were eliminated by private employers in September for the first time in seven months. Nasdaq lost 19 points to 2380.

On the upside

Ivanhoe Energy (Nasdaq: IVAN) reported that considerable gas has been observed in the mud at the surface while drilling at it Zitong-1 well in the Sichuan Province of China.

Leon Cooperman of the hedge fund firm Omega Advisors purchased 8.5 million shares of PMI Group (NYSE: PMI) for a 5.3% stake in the mortgage insurer.

Shares of BioFuel Energy (NYSE: BIOF) continued climbing over speculation that the Environmental Protection Agency will approve the new ethanol fuel blend E15.

On the downside

General Maritime (NYSE: GMR) cut its quarterly dividend to a penny per share.

DuPont Fabros Technology (NYSE: DFT) announced a public offering of preferred stock .

Shares of enterprise software firms Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) fell after data management firm Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) cut its revenue outlook.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by 7 to 5 on Nasdaq.