Dow Jones futures rose modestly overnight, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, with the December jobs report due Friday morning. The stock market rally on Thursday tried to rebound, but feeble gains turned to slim losses on the major indexes, as Apple stock and Tesla retreated.
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The 10-year Treasury yield continued to climb, nearing pandemic highs while crude oil prices rose solidly. Banks and energy stocks continued to advance as well.
Outside of those two areas, Arista Networks (ANET), Zim Integrated Shipping (ZIM), Dow Jones component Home Depot (HD), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) and Hilton Hotels (HLT) are five stocks worth watching. All are holding up reasonably well. Some are near possible entries while others are potentially actionable now, though investors should be cautious about any buys with the stock market rally under pressure.
Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) retreated again, closing below its 21-day moving average for the first time in three months. Tesla stock fell below its 50-day moving average.
Finally, meme stocks DWAC and GameStop (GME) rallied on news. Trump stock SPAC partner Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) surged in Thursday’s session as the former president gets ready to launch his social media site next month.
GME stock skyrocketed overnight as the video game retailer launches a unit to enter the NFT and cryptocurrency markets.
Tesla (TSLA) and ANET stock are on IBD Leaderboard. ZIM stock, Arista Networks and Tesla are on the IBD 50.
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Jobs Report
The Labor Department will release the December jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect to see nonfarm payrolls rising by 400,000. In November, payrolls rose by just 210,000, but the separate household survey showed a big employment jump, driving the jobless rate down to 4.2%. Wall Street forecasts an unemployment dip to 4.1% in December.
Economists also expect the labor force participation rate to nudge up to 61.9%, as workers slowly reenter the workforce. That participation rate may be the key number in the December jobs report, as workers balance omicron concerns vs. dwindling pandemic savings. How quickly and how many “missing workers” return to the labor force is a key factor for wage hikes and longer-term inflation pressure — and how fast the Federal Reserve will tighten policy as 2022 goes on.
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Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures advanced 0.25% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures also rose 0.35%. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.5%.
The December jobs report is sure to move Treasury yields and Dow Jones futures before the open and beyond. The initial market moves may quickly reverse.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock…
Read More: Dow Jones Futures: Market Rally Fizzles; GME Stock, Trump Stock DWAC Spike