NEW YORK - US STOCKS opened little changed on Friday after dismal December jobs data was not as bad as feared, raising hopes that the worst of the recession's job losses was over.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a modest 18.88 points (0.22 per cent) to 8,761.34 in opening trades, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 1.84 points (0.11 per cent) to 1,615.17.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 1.23 points (0.14 per cent) to 910.96.

The major indices ended mixed Thursday after investors appeared to shrug off another batch of weak data and look to president-elect Barack Obama's pledge for a massive stimulus plan to jolt the US economy out of recession.

The blue-chip Dow dropped 0.31 per cent, while the Nasdaq gained 1.12 per cent and the S&P 500 added 0.34 per cent.

The Labor Department reported the US economy shed 524,000 jobs in December, driving the unemployment rate to a 16-year high of 7.2 per cent.

Some economists said the job losses were not as brutal as expected after an ADP report on Wednesday showed the private sector lost a shocking 693,000 jobs in December, far bigger than the 493,000 expected.

'There is no doubt that these are very weak numbers and that the economy has downward momentum,' said Briefing.com analysts.

The stock gains reflect 'an erasing of fears rather than a reaction to truly good news.'-- AP