After recovering from an initial move to the downside, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing narrowly mixed.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 44.42 points or 0.3 percent to 14,229.91, the S&P 500 edged down 2.60 points or 0.1 percent to 4,567.18 and the Dow dipped 79.88 points or 0.2 percent to 36,124.56.
The initial weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets amid concerns optimism about the outlook for interest rates has led to overbought conditions.
While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged in the coming months, traders may need more evidence to solidify hopes of a rate cut in the near future.
The subsequent rebound came as a Labor Department report may have reinforced those hopes, showing a bigger than expected decrease in U.S. job openings in the month of October.
The report said job openings slid to 8.73 million in October from 9.35 million in September, falling to the lowest level since March 2021. Economists had expected job openings to edge down to 9.30 million.
Meanwhile, a separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed service sector activity in the U.S. grew at a slightly faster rate in the month of November.
The ISM said its services PMI crept up to 52.7 in November from 51.8 in October, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 52.0.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched monthly jobs report, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.
Economists currently expect employment to increase by 185,000 jobs in November after rising by 150,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.9 percent.
Sector News
Oil service stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.3 percent to a five-month closing low.
The weakness among oil service stocks came amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, with crude for January delivery falling $0.72 to $72.32 a barrel.
A modest decrease by the price of gold also weighed on gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Natural gas, airline and networking also saw notable weakness on the day, while modest strength was visible among software and retail stocks.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index slumped by 1.4 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled by 1.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.
In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply higher, more than offsetting the pullback seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled 11.7 basis points to a new three-month closing low of 4.171 percent.
Looking Ahead
ADP’s report on private sector employment in the month of November may attract some attention on Wednesday as traders look ahead to the Labor Department’s more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.
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