4:22pm: Tech sector strength pushes Nasdaq higher
Wall Street ended the day with mixed results as the Nasdaq eked out a modest gain while the Dow Jones slipped.
The Nasdaq led the day's performance, adding 77 points, or 0.4%, to settle at 19,481. Gains in technology giants buoyed the index, reflecting continued optimism in the tech sector amid ongoing innovation and resilient demand.
The Dow dipped 76 points, or 0.8%, to close at 44,706, pressured by losses in industrial and financial stocks and the S&P 500 posted a slight advance of 3 points, finishing at 6,050.
3:40pm: Turkey rally
An election-fueled November 'Turkey Rally, delivered "outsized" returns for investors, LPL Financial's George Smith noted.
The S&P 500 closed out November with a remarkable 5.7% gain, aligning with seasonal trends and marking its best-performing month of 2024.
"While this return far outpaces the long-term average return of around 1.8% during the month, November’s recent strength is highlighted by an almost 6% average monthly gain over the past five-year period," Smith commented.
"Broad-based buying pressure with cyclical undertones propelled stocks higher as the consumer discretionary, financials, and industrials sectors rounded out the sector podium. Healthcare was the worst-performing sector but still finished just above breakeven as all sectors rose during the month."
2:20pm: Labor market loosening
The US labor market is showing signs of normalization after years of tight conditions, according to LPL Financial's analysis of the October Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
The ratio of job openings to unemployed individuals has returned to pre-pandemic levels, down from its 2022 peak, the group noted.
Job turnover has slowed, with quit rates falling below pre-pandemic averages.
And a slight increase in continued unemployment claims points to cooling in hiring activity.
"Labor markets are getting closer to normal after several years of tightness," LPL's Jeffrey Roach wrote.
"The Fed’s December 18th decision will be a close one, but if the majority of voting members prioritize the employment mandate, markets should expect a cut in policy rates, supporting risk appetite."
12:55pm: Investors weigh economic signals
Stocks were mixed by midday Tuesday as investors weighed fresh jobs data against expectations for potential interest rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1% to 44,751, slipping 31 points. The S&P 500 also dipped, declining 0.1% to 6,044 a loss of 3 points. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, gaining 0.1% to reach 19,420, up 16 points.
11:50am: South Korean stocks tumble
South Korean stocks faced a sharp drop after president Yoon Suk Yeol moved to declare martial law on Tuesday.
Yoon announced the decision in a late-night television address, dubbing the move necessary in a bid to protect the country from North Korea's communist forces.
Tracker funds in the US tumbled in the wake of the announcement, with news on whether South Korean markets would open on Wednesday unclear.
The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, which tracks over 90 large and mid-sized South Korean companies, dropped as much as 6% to a year-low in the aftermath.
11.04am: Oil spikes as Korea declares martial law
Oil prices are up 2% due to a variety of factors.
An Opec+ meeting is due later this week, but what's being cited by some traders and analysts is the declaration of martial law by South Korea’s president.
IG analyst Axel Rudolph says: "South Korea's sudden political instability led to an around 2% rise in the oil price due to supply concerns as traders were already buying the black gold ahead of this week's OPEC+ meeting at which continued output cuts are expected to be announced. While the silver price rose by around a percentage point, the gold price flatlined."
Mark Williams, Chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, says: "The declaration of martial law by Korea’s president is an extraordinary step that seems likely to trigger either the suspension of Constitutional democracy in Korea or the president’s own rapid impeachment and removal.
"For investors the key question is whether the decision is linked to an imminent threat from North Korea – there is little other than the declaration itself to suggest that there is one.
"Assuming the border remains peaceful and beyond the inevitable short-term shock to financial markets, a period of political instability lies ahead in South Korea that will dent confidence in the economy."
Futures for Korea's Kospi index are down 0.7%, which seems slightly off.
10.43am: Stocks in the red
The Nasdaq Composite perked up slightly after the JOLTS print but is now in the red with the rest of the main Wall Street equity indexes.
After just over an hour of trading, it is four points below flat, while the S&P 500 is down 0.15%, the Dow Jones is down 0.3% and the Russell 2000 down 0.2%.
On the JOLTS job openings data, economist Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "It would be unwise to infer from October’s month-to-month increase in job postings that labor demand is picking up."
He notes that October postings were still a "hefty" 4.4% below their average in the first nine months of 2024, and the first estimate has been revised down by 1.5% on average since the start of 2023.
Indeed, the timelier daily measure of new job postings has continued to decline, reaching in November its lowest month-average level since December 2020.
"The ratio of job postings to unemployment—often cited by the FOMC—increased to 1.11 in October, from 1.08 in September, but remained much lower than a year ago," Tombs says, also noting that the private sector quits rate remained slightly below its 2.4% average in the second half of the 2010s.
"Both indicators point to a further slowdown in year-over-year growth in the ECI measure of private sector wages and salaries to about 3.0% early next year, from 3.8% in Q3.
"That’s probably below the rate required for core PCE inflation to average 2% in the medium term, given the solid near-2% trend in productivity growth.
"Accordingly, the latest JOLTS data provide good grounds for the FOMC to ease policy again this month."
10.12am: JOLTS higher than expected
US job openings for October were higher than expected but higher than the previous month, according to the JOLTS report.
Job openings rose to 7.744 million, from the prior 7.443 million, and higher than the 7.519 million expected.
Overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the number of job openings was little changed on the last business day of October.
Over the month, hires was little changed at 5.3 million, while job quits increased to 3.3 million, but layoffs and discharges did not change much at 1.6 million.
9.52am: Flat start for S&P and Nasdaq
It's another mixed start for Wall Street this week, with the S&P 500 just below flat, the Nasdaq Composite just above.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.2% and the Russell 2000 is almost precisely flat.
Among the notable movers, Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI) is up another 3%, adding to its near-30% gain yesterday.
Biggest climbers on the S&P are AT&T Inc (NYSE:T, ETR:SOBA), up 4.7% after it announced plans for $40 billion of buybacks and dividends cover the coming three years.
and Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU), up 3.8%.
Fallers include Acceture and Moderna, both down around 3%.
Nvidia Inc is up 1.2%, but Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) are both down slightly, while Tesla has dropped 1.3%.
8.40am: BlackRock buys private credit specialist
BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) shares are heading for a higher start after a $12 billion acquistion of New York-based private credit investment manager HPS was unveiled.
HPS has $148 billion in client assets.
The deal marks BlackRock’s latest bid to expand its share in the alternative asset market and move beyond traditional investments such as equities and bonds.
Elsewhere, BlackRock's July deal to buy UK data provider Preqin for $3.22 billion is being examined by the UK competition regulator.
The Competition and Markets Authority has invited interested parties to comment on the deal before it decides whether to carry out a full investigation.
The asset manager said at the time it was doing the deal as part of its move into private-market investments.
8am: Tesla pay deal for Musk still blocked
Last night, Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick denied a motion to revise her ruling that rescinded Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk’s 2018 compensation package worth nearly $56 billion.
The court found that the defendants, named as Musk and other Tesla execs, lacked the procedural grounds to change a prior decision.
Tesla stockholder Richard Tornetta successfully sought to block the compensation package through a court action this January.
7.35am: S&P heading for flat start
Wall Street futures are indicating a slow start on Tuesday, ahead of the first of the week's jobs market data releases.
Two hours ahead of the open, Dow Jones futures were flat, while those for the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 were just above flat and for the Nasdaq 100, slightly below.
This comes a day after the S&P 500 notched its 54th all-time high of the year and the Nasdaq Composite bagged a record high, rising 0.2% and 1% respectively, while the Dow Jones fell 0.3% and the Russell 2000 was just below flat.
Tuesday's pre-market movers include Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI) (Super Micro Computer Inc (NASDAQ:SMCI)), up another 5% to add to its near-30% gain at the start of the week.
The dollar has stabilised after gains on Friday and Monday, with the dollar index (DXY) down a little at just over 106 points.
Next moves from the greenback "could go either way," said market analyst David Morrison at Trade Nation, "much will depend on where US Treasury yields trade ahead of the Fed’s FOMC meeting on 17th/18th December."
In cryptocurrencies, Morrison notes that bitcoin "failed to clear $100,000", which is "proving to be a major frustration for the crypto-bros, particularly as upside momentum fades with every unsuccessful attempt".
Today there are speeches from Federal Reserve members Adriana Kugler and Austan Goolsbee, with economic data including the JOLTS job openings, the first major release of a week of jobs market data, which culminates with Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls.