Premarket Stock Trading Data: Dow, S&P, NASDAQ Futures

Should the stock close near these levels, it would mark the worst daily performance since May 12. On the other hand, job openings fell more than expected in May, according to a Labor Department report. That data could provide hope that the tight job market may be seeing at least some loosening. The three major indexes are on pace to finish the week lower with just Friday’s session left in the holiday-shortened trading week.

Stocks rose to start the last week of the year, pushing the S&P 500 closer to record levels. Meta Platforms stock climbed roughly 2% in premarket trading on Thursday after the launch of Threads, its rival platform to Twitter. Initial jobless claims increased to 248,000 last week, though the total was only 3,000 higher than the Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number represented a rise of 12,000 from the previous week.

It was also the first time March that the 2-year rate traded above 5%. «The plight of the economy, including the job market, through the end of this year, remains a question,» Hamrick said. «If the inflation fighting Fed feels compelled to raise interest rates further, as it has recently signaled, risks of economic contraction remain, or even grow.» What the future of the U.S. economy will look like remains unclear following Thursday’s job data, according to Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. And a big part of the question stems from uncertainty around how the Fed will move interest rates going forward. Archer Aviation marked one of the biggest laggards on the index, last down 12.5% and on track to snap a six-day win streak.

If inflation proves more stubborn than expected, the Fed may delay its rate cuts, Dave Sekera, chief U.S. market strategist at Morningstar, told ABC News. As inflation nears normal levels and hiring remains robust, many economists expect the U.S. to achieve a soft landing. That type of outcome would help companies thrive and stock values climb, analysts said. In a larger sense, rate cuts signal to observers that the central bank is optimistic about its fight against high prices and confident that it can begin taking the brakes off of the economy, Cox added. «I think that we’re very much priced for perfection, if you think about the rally. We’ve only priced in now that soft landing scenario,» Senyek told CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ earlier Tuesday.

1. But the economy will likely avert a major stumbling block next year, Sekera added, allowing inflation to reach the Fed’s target rate while avoiding a downturn.
2. «In this environment, the FOMC needs to make policy more restrictive so we can return inflation to target in a sustainable and timely way,» Logan said in prepared remarks for a speech at Columbia University.
3. Continuing claims edged lower to 1.72 million, as both numbers pointed to a resilient labor market despite the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking campaign.
4. The earlier move up was in contrast to weaker stock prices and yields.
5. Sweetgreen shares rose 4% after Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, citing increasing foot traffic, sustained momentum in same-store sales growth and long-term plans to automate operations.
6. The three major indexes are on pace to finish the week lower with just Friday’s session left in the holiday-shortened trading week.

The inclusion of a company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average does not depend on defined criteria. Instead, an independent Wall Street Journal commission decides whether a share is to be included or excluded. There are no fixed times for reviewing the composition of the index, since changes are only made by the commission as and when they are needed. «This big rising tide of seven names lifting all boats in the stock market is what I see ending. I don’t see these seven names rising together.» Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool’s premium services.

Historical Prices for Dow Jones

Piper Sandler downgraded point-of-sale lender Affirm to underweight from neutral, citing rates continuing to move higher and the student loan repayments slated to begin again in October. With just Friday left in the holiday-shortened trading week, the Dow is on pace to finish the week 1.4% down. The S&P 500 is on track to lose 0.9% while the Nasdaq Composite is poised to shed 0.8% on the week. «The market clearly would have preferred an in-line number,» said John Lynch, chief investment officer at Comerica Wealth Management. «But because it was more than double expectations, that really ratchets up the fear factor that the Fed would have to be more aggressive.»

The Russell 2000 climbed 0.5% to reach its highest level since April 2022, in a sign of broadening participation during the recent market rally. The index’s best performer is RayzeBio, which doubled on news it’s being acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb. The chipmaker popped 4% on news of a $3.2 billion grant to build its $25 billion factory in Israel. The S&P 500 was propelled higher by a broad rally among member stocks on Tuesday. JetBlue shares inched lower in extended trading after the company announced it would end its alliance in the northeast U.S. with American Airlines. Hong Kong listed shares of Agricultural Bank of China dropped nearly 2% while ICBC fell 2.4%.

MORE: Federal Reserve expects to cut interest rates next year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell says

Instead, the economy remained rock-solid in 2023 despite aggressive rate hikes and elevated inflation. Economic growth actually accelerated last year, supported by strong (albeit slower) increases in consumer spending and business investments. The economy is currently projected to expand at an annualized 2.9% in the first quarter of 2024, above the 10-year average of 2.5%.

Some investors switch direction as Nvidia and AI stocks soar

The current yield curve inversion, despite its severity, could be another false positive. However, the yield curve becomes inverted (starting high and sloping down as it mores right) when long-dated bonds pay less than short-dated bonds. Some investors hedge against recession risk by purchasing long-dated bonds to get guaranteed returns over an extended time period. Demand for those long-dated bonds drives prices higher and yields lower. Senyek added that his firm thinks the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates «a few times» next year, but that he doesn’t think those moves will be enough to stave off a deeper-than-expected downturn. Companies’ wage growth, oil prices, and stronger-for-longer employment levels are some of the major swing factors that could impact disinflation over time, the strategist said.

For more on what’s driving bitcoin on Thursday read our full story here. With a slide of 1%, the S&P 500 is poised to post its worst day since May 23, when it dropped 1.1%. With the other 29 names trading lower, the blue-chip average was down about 1.2%.

European markets: Here are the opening calls

In other economic news, the U.S. trade deficit fell to $69 billion in May, just above the estimate. Quits rose on the month, pushing just above 4 million as the rate compared to the workforce size increased to 2.6%, up 0.2 percentage point from April. The three major indexes were all down more than 1% in Thursday morning trading, showing the strength of the session’s selloff. Small cap stocks unperformed on Thursday, with the Russell 2000 last down more than 2.2% and on pace for its worst day since April 25. Shares rose about 1.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded Keurig Dr Pepper to overweight from equal weight, saying that the stock’s «pronounced stock underperformance» has created a buying opportunity for investors.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan said Thursday she was one of the central bankers who thought it would have been «entirely appropriate» to raise interest rates again at the June meeting. Job openings fell more than expected in May, providing some hope that the labor market is loosening up, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. The Dow and S&P 500 are both on track to post their worst daily performances in more than a month with just hours left in Thursday’s session.

«As we get into the spring and early summer, I think the Fed’s going to be cutting for the wrong reasons. I think the economy is going to slow, the lagged impacts of rate hikes will get the economy.» The cryptocurrency was last lower by 1% at $30,147.48, according to Coin Metrics. It gave back earlier gains after better-than-expected https://forexhero.info/ U.S. jobs data increased investor worries about path of interest rates. Thursday’s economic data releases foreshadow strength in Friday’s jobs report, said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. Second, even if the economy suffers a recession, investors who sell wouldn’t know when to buy again.

The current yield curve inversion was most severe in May 2023, when the average yield spread (10-year Treasury yield minus 3-month Treasury yield) dropped to -1.71%. The yield curve has not been so steeply inverted since June 1981, when the average yield spread was -2.04%. For instance, the 10-year Treasury currently pays less than the 3-month Treasury, meaning that portion of the yield curve is inverted. What makes that noteworthy is the near-perfect accuracy with which those bonds have forecasted past recessions.

That sounds quite alarming, but investors should avoid selling their stocks. In fact, the most prudent course of action is to stay invested and continue buying good stocks at reasonable valuations. The 10-year and 3-month Treasury yields inverted in January 1966, but that event was not immediately followed by a recession.

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The prevailing logic was that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates too much, causing a substantial decline in spending that would snowball into higher unemployment and an economic downturn. Founded in 1993, The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter, happier, and richer. The Motley Fool reaches millions of people how to write rfp for software every month through our premium investing solutions, free guidance and market analysis on Fool.com, top-rated podcasts, and non-profit The Motley Fool Foundation. Forward-looking investors are now anticipating the rate cuts, leaving less room for a boost when the policies go into effect, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, previously told ABC News.

Former Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said Tuesday he expects the central bank to start lowering rates soon as it seeks to seeks to avoid a recession as inflation recedes. Tuesday’s gains extend last week’s advance as the Israel-Hamas war shows little signs of a resolution. Growing confidence that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in 2024 also helped oil prices. The yield on the 2-year Treasury yield traded at 5.05% on Thursday, reaching levels not seen in 16 years, following the release of the latest ADP private payrolls report.