It has been a volatile week for stocks as investors fretted over familiar macro themes.
Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was undecided about its direction Friday ahead of the release of the critical U.S. jobs report, which will be the focus of investors considering the future of central bank stimulus after a volatile week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicated an open 40 points higher, after the index climbed 337 points Thursday to close at 34,754. Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were hovering around flat or slightly higher. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 0.22 percentage point to 1.593%.
After a rocky week of trading, where investors fretted about familiar fears such as inflation and supply-chain pressures, stocks rallied Thursday as Congress reached an agreement on the debt ceiling and an apparent gas crisis in Europe was averted. The S&P 500 closed Thursday just 3% below its all-time high reached in September.
“Markets have been stirred but not completely shaken this week and yesterday they continued to rebound thanks to the near-term resolution on the U.S. debt ceiling alongside subsiding gas prices, which took the sting out of two of the most prominent risks for investors over the last couple of weeks,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.
As the week draws to a close, all eyes are on the release of the U.S. jobs report, which measures nonfarm payrolls, as a critical indicator ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next major decision on monetary policy. The Fed has signaled that it will closely watch employment data as it considers slowing, or tapering, its program of monthly asset purchases, which have added liquidity to markets since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Attention will today focus squarely on the U.S. jobs report,” Reid confirmed, “which is the last one before the Fed’s next decision in early November, where a potential tapering announcement is likely bar an extraordinarily poor number today, or an exogenous event in the next few weeks.”
Expectations are for nonfarm payrolls to show 500,000 jobs added in September. If the final number falls well short of expectations, it’s possible it could temper the Fed’s inclination to announce a taper in November.
“But I see this as a low-risk outcome,” noted Neil Wilson, an analyst at broker Markets.com. “More likely is steady progress on jobs and the November taper announcement to follow.”
Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3%, as investors reacted positively to the new prime minister Fumio Kishida’s orders for his cabinet to compile economic stimulus measures for an extra budget to be submitted after an election at the end of the month.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.2% lower.
Elsewhere, oil prices surged to reclaim elevated levels reached earlier in the week, with continuous contract futures for crude up around 1%.
International benchmark Brent was trading hands around $82.50 a barrel, near its highest point in three years, while U.S. crude—West Texas Intermediate—was getting closer to the psychologically important $80 mark, trading around $79.
Here are seven stocks on the move Friday:
Alibaba
‘s (9988.H.K.) Hong Kong-listed shares rose 5.6%, following Alibaba
‘s (BABA) U.S.-listed shares higher after they surged 8.3% Thursday in the largest daily percent increase since April 2021. The U.S.-listed stock was up a further 2.8% in premarket trading.
Daimler (DAI.Germany) rose 2.4% in Frankfurt, after analysts at UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, citing catalysts ahead, even as the company reported a fall in Mercedes-Benz deliveries and impacts from the global chip shortage.
Tui (TUI.U.K.) fell 14% in London amid a lack of obvious company news. The travel giant canceled some flights and packages following an update to U.K. travel restrictions this week, and the company announced Wednesday a €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) plan to raise new capital with a share offer.
Higher crude prices proved a boost for major oil companies, with BP (BP) rising 0.6% and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) lifting ).5% in London, as TotalEnergies (TTE) climbed 0.7% in Paris and Eni (E) surged 1.4% in Milan.
Write to editors@barrons.com
from WordPress https://ift.tt/3mDQpiy
via IFTTT
No comments