Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slide, focus on jobs report, wait for Middle East moves

Live10 updates

• Thu, October 3, 2024 at 9:15 p.m. GMT+2

  Payrolls for 2024 are in pre-pandemic trend

  The September jobs report is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET as investors consider how quickly the job market is cooling.

  In a note to clients Wednesday evening, Truist Co-CIO Keith Lerner released a chart that helps set the stage well for Friday’s report. Lerner points out that average monthly job growth in 2024 will be about the same pace as before the pandemic.

  He notes that this comparison shows a labor market that is “cooling, but still not weak.” This is an opinion that some economists have also been vocal about recently.

  With another 150,000 new jobs expected to be created in September, the focus of Friday’s report likely won’t be on how many people were hired. It will probably again be about how many people have not found work. The unemployment rate is expected to have remained stable at 4.2%. If it rises unexpectedly, discussions about a larger Fed rate cut in November could intensify.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 8:59 p.m. GMT+2

  Average mortgage rates rise to 6.12%

  Claire Boston of Yahoo Finance reports:

  Mortgage rates rose slightly this week, reflecting a rise in benchmark Treasury yields.

  According to data from Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.12% on Thursday, compared with a two-year low of 6.08% a week earlier. 15-year mortgages averaged 5.25%, up from 5.16% in the same period a week ago.

  The rise comes as 10-year Treasury yields, which closely track mortgage rates, rose as investors assess the state of the economy and rising tensions in the Middle East.

  Read more here.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 8:17 p.m. GMT+2

  Tesla shares plunge more than 4%

  Shares of Tesla (TSLA) fell more than 4% on Thursday, weighing on the consumer discretionary sector (XLY).

  The EV giant extended its losses on Thursday after Bloomberg reported that employees were told the company’s chief information officer was leaving the company just days before Tesla’s robotaxi was unveiled in California.

  Nagesh Saldi reported directly to CEO Elon Musk.

  On Wednesday, Tesla shares fell after the company reported third-quarter deliveries that fell slightly short of expectations.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 7:16 p.m. GMT+2

  Walmart, Target and Nike are among the retailers affected if the port strike continues beyond this week

  Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

  As East and Gulf Coast ports remain closed for the first time in five decades, retailers are preparing for the potential impact.

  If the port strike continues beyond this week, retailers’ margins, inventory and sales could feel the impact.

  “It’s Walmart, Target, Amazon…Costco, all the big players that are multi-product retailers. They will have an impact,” Joe Feldman of Telsey Advisory Group told Yahoo Finance.

  Shares of Amazon (AMZN) fell more than 1% on Thursday amid a broader market decline.

  Read more here.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 6:45 p.m. GMT+2

  Port strike could cost US economy up to $4.5 billion a day and slow GDP growth: analysts

  Laura Bratton of Yahoo Finance reports:

  A prolonged strike by U.S. longshoremen could cost the economy up to $4.5 billion a day and shave half a percentage point off U.S. GDP in the fourth quarter, analysts say.

  About 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association went on strike Tuesday, temporarily closing 36 ports from Maine to Texas.

  The hardest-hit U.S. imports are building materials, European wines and fruits from Latin America – most of which come through ports on the East Coast, according to data from Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University.

  Read more here.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. GMT+2

  September jobs report: Job growth is expected to pick up as the unemployment rate remains unchanged

  Josh Schafer of Yahoo Finance reports:

  September’s jobs report is expected to serve as the latest evidence that the labor market has cooled in 2024, but is not slowing quickly enough to prompt the Federal Reserve to make a major interest rate cut in November.

  The monthly report, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls rose by 150,000 in September, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2%, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg .

  The key question heading into Friday’s release is whether the data reflects a significant slowdown in the labor market that could lead to another big Fed rate cut.

  Read more here.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 5:22 p.m. GMT+2

  Energy, utilities and technology stocks are rising while the remaining sectors are falling

  Energy stocks (XLE) outperformed broader markets on Thursday as oil prices surged on concerns about supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

  The S&P 500 Utilities (XLU) sector also rose slightly.

  The tech sector (XLK) hovered above the flat line thanks to a rise in Nvidia stock (NVDA).

  Shares of the AI ​​chip giant rose after CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that demand for the company’s next-generation Blackwell chips was “insane.”

  

• Thu, October 3, 2024 at 4:41 p.m. GMT+2

  Oil prices rise nearly 4% on fears of supply disruption

  Oil prices rose for the third straight day on Thursday on fears of supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

  West Texas Intermediate futures (CL=F) rose more than 4%, while Brent futures (BZ=F), the international benchmark, rose nearly 4% on expectations that Israel would follow the ballistic missile attack in Tehran on Tuesday will take retaliatory measures against Iran.

  “Futures remain in jittery trading” over the possibility that an Israeli response could hit oil facilities in Iran, Dennis Kissler, SVP of trading at BOK Financial, wrote in a note Thursday.

  Concerns about possible disruptions from the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck for oil supplies, have also pushed prices higher.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 4:05 p.m. GMT+2

  Nvidia rises 4%, helping Nasdaq move into the green

  Nvidia shares (NVDA) rose more than 4% on Thursday morning, helping the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rise.

  The tech-heavy index erased early morning losses and climbed into the green, while AI chip heavyweight and other semiconductor stocks rose.

• 

  Thu, October 3, 2024 at 3:30 p.m. GMT+2

  Stocks open lower as monthly jobs report arrives and tensions run high in the Middle East

  Stocks opened lower on Thursday as investors turned their attention to monthly jobs data this week for clues on the health of the economy while keeping an eye on the Middle East conflict.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.5% after all three averages closed above the flat line on Wednesday.

  Investors are awaiting the highly anticipated September jobs report, due out Friday morning. Weekly jobless claims released Thursday rose slightly compared to the previous week.

  In commodities, oil prices rose on Thursday as the Israel-Iran crisis raised concerns about supply disruptions in the region. Brent (BZ=F) and West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) each rose more than 2% in early trading.