Brendan McDermid/Reuters
- US stocks ended the day lower as investors looked ahead to the September jobs report.
- Wall Street expects a 170,000 increase in payrolls last month, down from 187,000 in August.
- Investors are hoping to see a softer employment picture, which could influence the Fed to dial back rates.
US stocks moved slightly lower on Thursday as investors looked ahead to the September jobs report on Friday.
Wall Street hopes to see a softer picture of the labor market, which could influence the Fed to dial back interest rates.
Friday's jobs report is expected to show a 170,000 increase in payrolls, according to economists polled by Dow Jones, slightly lower than the 187,000 payrolls reported in August.
Weekly jobless data on Thursday came in slightly stronger than expected at 207,000, below the anticipated 210,000.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond dipped to 4.716%, but is still hovering at 16-year highs.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Thursday:
- S&P 500: 4,258.19, down 0.13%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,119.57, down 0.03% (9.98 points)
- Nasdaq Composite: 13,219.83, down 0.12%
Here's what else happened today:
- The collapse in Treasury bonds now ranks among the worst market crashes in history.
- Oil prices dropped further as the outlook on global demand looks murky.
- Now is the time to double-down on tech stocks as market bears ramp up panic about the economy, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
- Stocks will still be significantly higher by year-end, and high bond yields and inflation aren't as bad as they seem, said Fundstrat's Tome Lee.
- Steel prices are falling due to the UAW strike.
- The housing market is following a similar playbook as it did in the 1980s. Here's what that could mean for homebuyers today.
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 2.16% to $82.40 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped 1.94% to $84.15 a barrel.
- Gold fell 0.07% to $1,820.14 per ounce.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond eased 2 basis points to 4.71%.
- Bitcoin slipped 0.97% to $27,523.