Stock Market Today: Stocks lower with jobs, Fed in focus; Apple slumps

A series of key jobs data release, as well as minutes from the Fed's December rate decision, will ensure a quick start to the year on Wall Street.

Jan 2, 2024 - 19:30

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Stock Market Today: Stocks lower with jobs, Fed in focus; Apple slumps

Check back for updates throughout the trading day

U.S. equity futures moved lower Tuesday while the dollar found support against its global peers and Treasury yields edged higher as investors headed into the first day of the trading year on a cautious note ahead of key Fed minutes and a host of labor-market releases.

Updated at 8:17 AM EST

Sliding start

Stock futures are accelerating to the downside in pre-market, with the S&P 500 now looking at a 36 point opening bell decline and the Dow called more than 215 points lower to stary the new trading year.

Apple's 2.4% slump has the Nasdaq looking at a 192 point pullback.

Updated at 7:33 AM EST

Souring on Apple

Apple (AAPL) - Get Free Report shares, the biggest weight on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, are moving firmly lower following a rare downgrade from Barclays that adds to small but growing bearish consensus on Wall Street.

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended a remarkable 2024 in mixed fashion, with the S&P 500 slipping modestly into the close last week but ending the year with a solid 24% gain powered in part by outsized performances from the so-called 'Magnificent 7' mega-cap tech stocks and a late-autumn pivot on rates from the Federal Reserve.

Fed policy is likely to provide much of the early market direction this week. Investors are looking to minutes of its December policy meeting on Wednesday to clarify the tone of its recent economic forecasts, which see inflation softening and growth slowing over the coming year.

Officials are also projecting at least three rate cuts, with markets expecting them to begin lowering the federal funds rate in March with a quarter-percentage-point reduction.

Investors are also focused on a series of job-market-data releases this week that could underscore the Fed's newly dovish tone, starting with job-openings figures for the month of November on Wednesday.

ADP's National Employment report, as well as the Labor Department's December nonfarm-payrolls report, will follow on Thursday and Friday respectively, with the most up-to-date weekly jobless-claims figures expected on Thursday.

Benchmark bond yields are creeping modestly higher into the data releases, with 10-year notes rising 2 basis points (0.02 percentage point) to 3.931% and 2-year notes edging to 4.299% in early New York trading.

Softer-than-expected economic-activity data from both Europe and Asia are also cementing the case for lower central bank rates in other major markets this year. The reports are adding to currency pressures and lifting the U.S. dollar index, which was last marked 0.37% higher on the session at 101.706.

Global oil prices were also on the rise following weekend clashes between U.S. naval helicopters and Iran-backed rebels in Yemen near the Red Sea. That dispute could add further risks to vessels heading toward the Suez Canal.

Brent-crude futures contracts for March delivery, the global benchmark, rose $1.83 to $78.88 per barrel in overnight trading while WTI futures for February rose $1.68 to $73.33 per barrel.

On Wall Street, stock futures were softer with the S&P 500 set for a 23 point opening bell dip and the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 145 points lower. The tech-focused Nasdaq is looking at a 140 point opening bell decline.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rose 0.12% to take the regional benchmark to the highest in nearly two years, following on from last year's 12.7% gain. Weak December factory activity data suggested the economy likely ended 2024 in recession, adding to bets on near-term rate cuts from the European Central Bank.

Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 opened the year with a 0.22% decline as investors and officials assessed both the economic and human cost of the powerful earthquake that struck the western prefecture of Ishikawa on New Year's Day.