Dow Jones futures fall as caution grows ahead of US jobs data
- Dow Jones futures decline as investors weigh fresh data amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
- Traders grow cautious as fragile data ahead of Friday’s jobs report dampened market sentiment.
- Markets eye US Jobless Claims later, with focus shifting to Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls report.
Dow Jones futures slip by 0.19% to trade below 49,150 during the European session on Thursday, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures fall 0.15% and 0.21% to around 6,950 and 25,780, respectively. US stock futures declined after major US indexes closed mixed in the previous session, as investors digested fresh economic data amid ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
In Wednesday’s regular session, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 slid 0.94% and 0.34%, respectively, retreating from record closing highs. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 edged up 0.16%, supported by a 2.5% rise in Google parent Alphabet.
Traders turned cautious as recent data point to a fragile US economic backdrop ahead of Friday’s crucial jobs report, tempering market sentiment. Cyclical sectors that tend to lag during economic slowdowns, including industrials, materials, and financials, weighed on the market.
JOLTS Job Openings came in at 7.146 million in November. This reading followed the 7.449 million openings recorded in October (revised from 7.67 million) and came in below the market expectation of 7.6 million. The US Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Employment Change showed an increase of 41,000 jobs in December, following a revised decline of 29,000 in November. The figure comes in slightly below market expectations of 47,000.
The US Initial Jobless Claims data will be eyed later in the North American session. Attention will be shifted toward Friday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, which is expected to show job gains of 55,000 in December, down from 64,000 in November.
Dow Jones FAQs
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, one of the oldest stock market indices in the world, is compiled of the 30 most traded stocks in the US. The index is price-weighted rather than weighted by capitalization. It is calculated by summing the prices of the constituent stocks and dividing them by a factor, currently 0.152. The index was founded by Charles Dow, who also founded the Wall Street Journal. In later years it has been criticized for not being broadly representative enough because it only tracks 30 conglomerates, unlike broader indices such as the S&P 500.
Many different factors drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The aggregate performance of the component companies revealed in quarterly company earnings reports is the main one. US and global macroeconomic data also contributes as it impacts on investor sentiment. The level of interest rates, set by the Federal Reserve (Fed), also influences the DJIA as it affects the cost of credit, on which many corporations are heavily reliant. Therefore, inflation can be a major driver as well as other metrics which impact the Fed decisions.
Dow Theory is a method for identifying the primary trend of the stock market developed by Charles Dow. A key step is to compare the direction of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) and only follow trends where both are moving in the same direction. Volume is a confirmatory criteria. The theory uses elements of peak and trough analysis. Dow’s theory posits three trend phases: accumulation, when smart money starts buying or selling; public participation, when the wider public joins in; and distribution, when the smart money exits.
There are a number of ways to trade the DJIA. One is to use ETFs which allow investors to trade the DJIA as a single security, rather than having to buy shares in all 30 constituent companies. A leading example is the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA). DJIA futures contracts enable traders to speculate on the future value of the index and Options provide the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the index at a predetermined price in the future. Mutual funds enable investors to buy a share of a diversified portfolio of DJIA stocks thus providing exposure to the overall index.
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