Stock Market Today: Stocks End Mixed Ahead of Powell

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Stocks were choppy Tuesday as investors looked ahead to this week's key events on the economic calendar, which include a Wednesday afternoon appearance from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the Friday morning release of the November jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the day down 0.2% at 44,705. However, the S&P 500 (+0.05% at 6,049.88) and the Nasdaq Composite (0.4% at 19,480) held on for a win, with both notching new record closing highs.

Wall Street kept a cautious eye on global markets, though developments overseas did little to move the needle here at home. Most notably, South Korea's president, Yoon Suk Yeoul, declared martial law early Tuesday in order to eradicate "pro-North Korean forces." However, the country's parliament quickly – and unanimously – voted to end the order and President Yoon eventually agreed.

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Job openings, quits were higher in October

In economic news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said this morning that job openings rose to 7.7 million in October from 7.4 million in September. Professional and business services saw the largest increases (+209,000), while the federal government saw the biggest decline (-26,000).

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) release also showed that hires fell to 5.3 million from 5.6 million the month prior. Total separations edged up to 5.3 million from 5.2 million as quits rose 2.1%.

"The labor market continues to look cooler, but not in trouble," says Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet. "Despite some month-to-month volatility, the number of job openings and hires continue to trend downward. This is happening at the same time as a low rate of layoffs."

The job openings data hits just ahead of the Labor Department's monthly nonfarm payrolls report, which is due Friday morning.

Shruti Mishra, an economist at BofA Securities, expects the report to show the U.S. added 240,000 new jobs in November – a sharp rebound from October's addition of just 12,000 jobs. "This above-consensus forecast is driven by expected payback for the temporary drag on payrolls in October due to Hurricane Milton and the Boeing (BA) strike," Mishra writes in a note to clients.

However, the economist notes that a strong November jobs report "is unlikely to derail" a rate cut by the Fed at its December meeting, "but an upside surprise in November inflation could do the trick."

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, futures traders are currently pricing in a 74% chance the Fed will cut interest rates by a quarter-percentage point at its meeting later this month – up from 62% yesterday.

AT&T makes shareholder-friendly promises

In single-stock news, AT&T (T) continued its red-hot run, rising 4.6% to bring its year-to-date gain to 40%. The telecom is headed toward its best calendar-year performance since 2019 and this latest surge comes courtesy of the company's shareholder-friendly initiatives.

Specifically, at its annual Analyst & Investor Day, AT&T said it expects to accumulate at least $50 billion in free cash flow over the next three years, $40 billion of which will be returned to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.

"Under this capital return plan, the Company expects to maintain its current annualized common stock dividend of $1.11 per share," AT&T said in a press release. "This plan would result in $20 billion+ in total dividend payments, with capacity for about $20 billion in share repurchases, from 2025-2027."

Credo stock soars after earnings

Credo Technology Group (CRDO) was another big winner, surging 47.9% after the maker of high-speed connectivity solutions for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers reported its fiscal second-quarter results.

For the three months ended November 2, the company disclosed earnings of 7 cents per share on revenue of $72 million, beating analysts' expectations. Credo also forecast fiscal third-quarter revenue of $115 million to $125 million, with the midpoint of this range exceeding Wall Street's outlook for $120 million.

"For the past few quarters, we have anticipated an inflection point in our revenue during the second half of fiscal 2025," said Credo Technology CEO Bill Brennan in the earnings release. "I am pleased to share that this turning point has arrived, and we are experiencing even greater demand than initially projected, driven by AI deployments and deepening customer relationships."

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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 a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.