Stock Market Today: Stocks Slide Ahead of September Jobs Report
Higher-than-expected initial jobless claims gave stocks an early boost, but they ran out of steam as the day wore on.
Stocks popped higher out of the gate Thursday after early morning data showed a bigger-than-expected jump in weekly jobless claims. But the gain was short-lived, with markets turning lower after a Federal Reserve official chimed in on rate hikes. Thursday's trading marked the second straight loss in a week that started out with a remarkable 765-point gain for the Dow.
Ahead of the opening bell, the Labor Department said initial unemployment claims were up by 29,000 in the week ended Oct. 1, to 219,000, a five-week high. But the big jobs news comes tomorrow with the release of the nonfarm payrolls report for September. Consensus expectations are for the U.S. to have added 248,000 jobs last month (down from August's 315,000) and the unemployment rate to remain steady at 3.7%.
Tomorrow's jobs report will give the Federal Reserve another clue as to whether or not its aggressive rate-hike campaign is working to slow growth. But ahead of this data point, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who is typically considered one of the more dovish members of the central bank, said at a banking conference today in Minnesota that he is seeing "almost no evidence that underlying inflation is coming down." As such, he is "not comfortable saying we are going to pause [hiking rates]," Kashkari added.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2% at 29,926, the S&P 500 Index was off 1.0% at 3,744, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7% lower at 11,073.
Other news in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 shed 0.6% to 1,752.
- U.S. crude futures rose 0.8% to $88.45 per barrel, notching their fourth straight win.
- Gold futures were unchanged at $1,720.80 an ounce.
- Bitcoin slipped 0.6% to $20,012.81. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
- Pinterest (PINS) stock jumped 4.9% after Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan upgraded the social media stock to Buy from Neutral (the equivalent of Hold). The analyst cited the company's "improved user growth/engagement trends in the short/medium term and the potential for upside to revenue growth trajectory and operating margin estimates as we move into 2023/2024."
- Weed stocks jumped after President Joe Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted at the federal level for marijuana possession, as well as those convicted in the District of Columbia. "Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit," Biden said in a statement. He also asked the secretary of Health and Human Services and the attorney general to "initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law." Canopy Growth (CGC, +22.2%), Curaleaf Holdings (CURLF, +33.1%) and Cresco Labs (CRLBF +24.4%) were among the day's biggest gainers.
AI's Top Stock Picks
This week's price action reminds us that the stock market is still prone to volatile swings. While these wild up-and-down moves aren't for the faint of heart, they can create exciting opportunities for stock pickers.
19 Best Stocks to Buy Now for High Upside Potential
Some of the most skilled stock pickers, like Warren Buffett or billionaires Philippe Laffont and David Tepper, have used the market pullback to go bargain hunting for equities. While not everyone has access to the research and insights these deep-pocketed players do, tactical investors trying to find some of the top stocks to watch do have options. Danelfin, an analytics platform that harnesses the power of big data technology and machine learning, is one of them. This artificial intelligence (AI) system analyzes hundreds of fundamental, technical and sentiment data points per day for 1,000 U.S.-listed shares and 600 European-listed firms, then generates several stock picks that it views as highly likely to outperform the market over the next 30 to 90 sessions.
So, what does Danelfin say investors should be buying now? Read on as we take a look at the platform's latest high-scoring stocks.
To continue reading this article
please register for free
This is different from signing in to your print subscription
Why am I seeing this? Find out more here
With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
How to Help Your Kids Without Ruining Your Retirement
Here are some general considerations to ensure the gift of assets to your kids will not negatively affect your financial future.
By Mario Hernandez Published
-
AI to Power the Next Generation of Robots
The Kiplinger Letter There's increasing buzz that the tech behind ChatGPT will make future industrial and humanoid robots far more capable.
By John Miley Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Tumble Amid Slower Economic Growth and Rising Prices
Disappointing readings on GDP and inflation helped tank equities.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Run Out of Steam Ahead of Meta Earnings
The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a four-day winning streak after Boeing's first-quarter results.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Soars Ahead of Tesla Earnings
The EV stock rose nearly 2% ahead of its highly anticipated Q1 earnings report, due after tonight's close.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Rebound Ahead of Big Week for Earnings
Equities rallied on easing geopolitical tensions, upcoming quarterly results.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Spirals as Netflix Nosedives
A big earnings boom for credit card giant American Express helped the Dow notch another win.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq Extend Losing Streaks
The two indexes have closed lower for five straight sessions.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Slips After Travelers' Earnings Miss
The property and casualty insurer posted a bottom-line miss as catastrophe losses spiked.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Stabilize After Powell's Rate-Cut Warning
The main indexes temporarily tumbled after Fed Chair Powell said interest rates could stay higher for longer.
By Karee Venema Published