4:09pm: Oil surges
Oil prices jumped more than 5% on Thursday driven by concerns about a potential retaliatory attack on Iran’s oil facilities by Israel.
Stocks, meanwhile, finished the day on the back foot. The Dow Jones closed down 0.4% at 42,011 points, the S&P 500 was 0.2% at 5,699 points and the Nasdaq shed 7 points at 17,918 points.
3:07pm: Constellation Brands lower post-earnings
Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE:STZ) shares moved more than 4% lower on Thursday afternoon after the producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits posted mixed results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025.
Revenue of $2.92 billion was short of the $2.95 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.
Strong beer sales, up 6% driven by a 4.6% increase in shipment volumes, were offset by weakness in wine and spirits, which decreased 12% driven by a 9.8% decrease in shipment volumes.
On a positive note, adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for Q2 were up 14% year-over-year at $4.32, ahead of estimates of $4.11.
1:27pm: Fed doves worried
US stocks lost additional ground in the early afternoon as investors eyed Friday’s key jobs report amid rising geopolitical concerns in the Middle East.
The Dow Jones was down 0.6% at 41,930 points, the S&P 500 shed 0.3% at 5,692 points and the Nasdaq was down 0.2% at 17,866 points.
Federal Reserve doves are worried on the back of better-than-expected JOLTS and ADP employment reports earlier this week, according to Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
Better-than-expected US jobs data is positive for the US dollar bulls and negative for the US treasuries but it is not outright positive or negative for sentiment in the stock markets, the analyst believes.
“Yes, the Fed cuts are supportive of valuations and the 50bp cut has provided a lot of joy to stock investors, but a collapsing jobs market is fundamentally bad news for the economy,” Ozkardeskaya said.
Investors’ opinions diverge, she added.
“Many think that the 6000 for the S&P 500 is not only within reach but is too easy to reach, while a few others – like Apollo’s CEO - think that the Fed has no reason to keep cutting rates and that its aggressive U-turn could backfire,” she said.
“After all, the US ports went on a strike this week, oil bulls give signs of life as a result of a widening war in the Middle East and the Fed may have declared victory on inflation earlier than ideal, and probably louder than reasonable.”
12:12pm: US market shrinking
Despite its reputation as the world's most vibrant stock market, the US has seen steeper declines than other shrinking markets including the London Stock Exchange.
US stock market listings have nearly halved since 1996, signalling that the challenges are far from unique to the UK, according to investment platform AJ Bell.
"Its stock market listings are down by almost half since 1996, the number of new floats is down by nearly 90% from 2021’s peak, and this year’s initial public offerings have left investors sat on an average loss of 7.1%. Yes, this deadbeat stock market is... the USA," AJ Bell Investment director Russ Mould commented.
Data from the World Bank shows that between 1996 and 2023, the number of stocks listed on US exchanges plummeted from an all-time high of 8,090 to 4,315, a whopping 47% decline.
10:38am: Tesla recalls Cybertrucks
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has announced a recall of more than 27,000 of its Cybertrucks over an issue with the vehicles’ rear-view cameras.
Most Cybertrucks in the US are affected, according to the electric vehicle giant, with the issue set to be solved through a software update.
The recall comes after the issue with the rearview camera system was spotted last month, which meant images were delayed from being shown on trucks’ screens when they were put into reverse.
Shares of Tesla traded down 1.7% mid-morning at $244.80.
9.55am: Stocks open lower, but Nasdaq pares losses
Wall Street stocks mostly opened lower but the tech-heavy Nasdaq has already pared most of those losses, now up 0.2% thanks to gains for semiconductor stocks.
Most of the tech giants started in the red, though Nvidia was an exception, rising 2.8%, with Broadcom and AMD also higher as trading continued.
The S&P 500 benchmark has fallen 0.2%, while the Dow Jones is off by 0.7%, while the small and mid-cap Russell 2000 has slipped 0.55%.
9.25am: Futures fall after jobless data
US stock futures have slipped lower, with those for the Nasdaq 100 now indicating a 0.5% fall, with S&P 500 futures down 0.3%.
This follows the US jobless numbers a short while ago.
Initial jobless claims printed at 225k up from 218k previously, above the 221k estimate.
Continuing jobless claims dropped to 1826k from 1834k, below the expected 1830k.
Yields on 10-year US Treasury notes hit their highest since early September at 3.819%.
7.45am: Nasdaq tipped to lead retreat on Thursday ahead of jobless claims
Wall Street stocks are predicted to head lower at Thursday's open, ahead of jobs and services sector data later, with Middle East tensions still a major concern for markets.
Futures for the S&P 500 are down 0.2%, while those for the Nasdaq 100 are pointing to a 0.3% drop, while Dow Jones futures are down 0.25%.
This comes a day after all three indexes closed modestly higher, with each adding less than 0.1%.
A key factor yesterday was a "substantial bond selloff," Deutsche Bank analysts said, noting that it was primarily driven by the stronger ADP jobs data than was expected.
"That was an important sign of strength in the US labour market," particularly ahead of Friday's important non-farm payroll report.
Oil prices are up, and the dollar too, as investors eye developments between Israel and its neighbours.
WTI crude has climbed 1.5% to $71.12, while the DXY dollar index is up another 0.2% to 101.86, with a notable gain against the pound in particular.
Today we will get weekly jobless claims data, which is expected to see an increase to 220,000 for last week, up from 218,000 the prior week.
ISM's services PMI survey is also due, where activity is predicted to have edged further into expansionary territory, with a reading of 51.7 for September compared to 51.5 in August.
In terms of corporate earnings, brewer Constellation Brands reported a large loss at its wine and spirits business, but the stock is up 1.3% premarket on an adjusted profit beat.
Elsewhere, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed most operations have been shut down due to strikes by thousands of longshoremen across ports on the east and Gulf coasts.