Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock exchange during morning trading on November 10, 2023 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were near flat on Thursday as Friday’s all-important jobs report loomed.
Dow futures dipped 3 points, trading near flat. S&P 500 futures rose by 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.3%.
Online pet products retailer Chewy slumped 10% following a weak forecast for fourth quarter net sales. GameStop shed nearly 7% after it reported lower net sales compared to the year-ago period.
The moves follow a losing session for the major averages that can be taken as a signal of the late-2023 rally fizzling out. The Dow and the S&P 500 posted a three-day losing streak, sliding 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite also dropped about 0.6%.
Wednesday marked the first three-day negative streak for both the Dow and S&P 500 since October. Still, the three major indexes remain poised to finish the fourth quarter and calendar year higher, underscoring the strength of the rally seen earlier.
“I think you’re still going to see some choppiness in terms of leadership,” Lori Calvasina, head of U.S. equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime.”
“One of the reasons why it’s been so difficult for the growth trade to relinquish its leadership is that expectations for economic growth are still sluggish,” she added.
The job market has been a focus of investors this week amid a series of mixed data releases.
Weekly jobless claims released Thursday were below economist expectations and a reading of continuing jobless claims declined, indicating that the pace of layoffs hasn’t increased. Treasury yields initially popped on the back of the data, reflecting concerns that the labor market was still too strong for economy policy makers.
Private payrolls data issued on Wednesday showed that employers added fewer positions than economists forecasted.
Meanwhile, the volume of job openings in October fell to its lowest level since March 2021, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday.
It left traders with a confusing picture ahead of the main event: Friday’s official jobs report.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that 190,000 jobs were added in November, a step up from the prior month.
Investors are hoping for a cooling of the labor market that leaves the Federal Reserve comfortable with their decision to halt interest rate hikes.
