U.S. stocks appear to have got their mojo back, potentially reversing some of the downbeat sentiment that was evident so far this week. Apple, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings report could lend some support to the market. The trading direction for the day could also hinge on the all-important non-farm payrolls report, as it could shed light on the labor market strength and wage inflation.
Cues From Thursday’s Trading:
Negative headlines on the banking crisis worried investors to no end on Thursday, as stocks succumbed to selling pressure. The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Industrials languished below the unchanged line throughout the session before ending with steep losses. The latter settled at its lowest level in more than a month.
The Nasdaq Composite sneaked above the unchanged line briefly in the mid-session but traded mostly in the red. All three averages have closed lower in all four sessions of the week so far.
Most sectors, with the exception of defensive real estate and utility stocks, ended lower for the session. Financial, energy, IT services and communication services stocks were among the worst decliners of the session.
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | -0.49% | 11,966.40 | |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.72% | 4,061.22 | |
| Dow Industrials | -0.86% | 33,127.74 |
Analyst Color:
It’s ‘Sell In May” indeed, said Carson Group’s Ryan Detrick in a tweet. With the S&P 500 Index down for the first days of May, the market has witnessed the longest losing streak to start a month since December 2022, which saw a five-session losing streak at the start of the month, he said.
The longest-ever has been nine in a row in December 1980, he added.
Detrick noted that the last time, the S&P 500 Index was down all five days of the week, ie Monday through Friday, was in late Feb. 2020. The last time this happened in May was in 2012, he said.
“Long way to go, but $AAPL trying to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Detrick said.
Futures Today
| Index | Performance (+/-) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 Futures | +0.60% | |
| S&P 500 Futures | +0.57% | |
| Dow Futures | +0.43% | |
| R2K Futures | +0.68% |
In premarket trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) gained 0.55% to $407.35 and Invesco QQQ ETF(NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.62% at $318.14, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Upcoming Economic Data:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release the jobs data for April at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Economists, on average, estimate a 180,000 job gain for the month, slower than the 236,000 jobs added in March. The jobless rate is expected to tick up 0.1 points to 3.6%. The average hourly earnings, an inflation measure, is expected to rise 0.3% month-over-month and 4.2% year-over-year, unchanged from the growth seen in the previous month.
Fed Govenor Lisa Cook is due to speak at 1 p.m. EDT.
The Federal Reserve is due to release its monthly report on consumer credit at 3 p.m. EDT. The consensus estimate calls for the metric to come in at $16.4 billion in March, more than February’s $15.29 billion.
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Stocks In Focus:
- Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) rose over 33% in premarket trading following the release of its quarterly results.
- Regional bank stocks Western Alliance Bancorp. (NYSE:WAL), PacWest Bancorp. (NASDAQ:PACW), First Horizon Corp. (NYSE:FHN), East West Bancorp. (NASDAQ:EWBC) and KeyCorp. (NYSE:KEY) all rebounded solidly amid reports that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is planning to exempt smaller banks from contributing its deposit insurance fund and instead ask big banks to make a bigger contribution.
- Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) and Atlassian Corp. (NASDAQ:TEAM) plummeted on downbeat earnings.
- Apple rose over 2% following its better-than-expected results.
- AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AMC), Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBD) are among the companies reporting results before the market opens.
Commodities, Bonds, Other Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil futures climbed 2.14% to $70.03 a barrel on Friday, adding to their modest advance on Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.053 percentage points to 3.405%.
The Asian markets ended Friday’s session on a mixed note, while European stocks rebounded from their Thursday’s declines in the wake of the European Central Bank’s rate decision.
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