Dow Jones futures rose early Friday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, with the October jobs report looming large.
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The stock market rally, now under pressure, continued to digest Fed chief Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments that the peak or “terminal” fed funds rate may be higher than previously expected.
The major indexes fell Thursday morning. They bounced off early lows, with the Dow Jones briefly turning positive, but stocks faded into the close.
Megacap techs continue to weigh on the major indexes, especially the Nasdaq. Microsoft stock joined Amazon.com (AMZN), Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) in setting bear market lows. Apple (AAPL) is still above its June bottom, but has tumbled this week back toward its October lows.
Key earnings movers Thursday night included Amgen (AMGN), Yelp (YELP), EOG Resources (EOG), PayPal (PYPL), Square parent Block (SQ), Progyny (PGNY), Cloudflare (NET) and Paylocity (PCTY).
Amgen stock was little changed while Yelp and PYPL stock tumbled. NET stock also dived, with cloud software names cratering overnight. SQ stock spiked and PGNY jumped. PCTY was not yet trading.
Cardinal Health (CAH) reports early Friday, with CAH stock slightly extended from a buy zone.
Jobs Report
Economists expect the October jobs report to show nonfarm payrolls up by 210,000, with the jobless rate nudging up to 3.6%. That would be the third straight month of slowing hiring and the smallest jobs gain since December 2020, but not cool enough for the Fed’s liking.
There are reasons to believe October employment data will be much weaker than expected.
However, other labor data this week has been hotter than expected, including September job openings and weekly jobless claims.
Friday’s October jobs report will be key for Fed rate hike expectations and perhaps stock market direction, at least in the short run. The November jobs report and two CPI inflation reports also will arrive before the December Fed meeting.
Markets now see a 52% chance of a 50-basis-point hike on Dec. 14.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures rose 0.5% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures gained 0.7% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.7%.
The 10-year Treasury yield was up 4 basis points to 4.16%.
U.S. crude oil futures climbed almost 4% to above $91 a barrel. Copper futures ran up nearly 5%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 5.4% and the Hang Seng Tech Index leapt 7.5%, amid fresh social media chatter that China will relax its zero-Covid policy.
The Labor Department’s October jobs report is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Expect big moves, possibly whipsaw action, for Dow futures and Treasury yields.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
IBD experts analyze the stock market rally on IBD Live
Stock Market Rally
The stock market rally lost more ground Thursday, with the Nasdaq suffering the most once again.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5% in Thursday’s stock market trading. The S&P 500 index retreated 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.7%. The small-cap Russell 2000 gave up 0.6%.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose 6 basis points to 4.12%, but off an intraday high of 4.2%. The dollar popped after a strong upside reversal Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil prices fell 2% to $88.17 a barrel, amid the strong dollar and concerns about global demand.
Apple Stock, Megacaps
Apple stock sold off 4.2%. Now down 10.2% for the week, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq titan has fallen back from its 200-day line and knifed below its 50-day line.
Google stock gave up 4.1%, hitting a two-year low. GOOGL stock is down 10.4% for the week.
Microsoft stock slid 2.7% to 214.25, finally breaking below its October lows to its worst levels since January 2021. MSFT stock has skidded 9.2% this week.
Amazon stock lost 3.1% to the lowest point since March 2020. AMZN stock has plunged…
Read More: Dow Jones Futures Rise: Jobs Report Key For Market Rally As Apple, Google Plunge