The three major U.S. equity indexes closed mixed on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrials ended the day down by 0.56%, the S&P 500 closed 0.09% lower and the Nasdaq was up 0.13%. Seven of 11 sectors closed lower, with financials (−0.71%) and consumer staples (−0.47%) falling the most. Communications services (0.29%) and health care (0.24%) posted the largest gains. Industrial stocks closed flat.
Early Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report on nonfarm payrolls for November. Economists were expecting an increase of 200,000 new jobs, down from October’s total of 261,000. What they got was 263,000 new jobs and an increase in the October total to 284,000. The headline unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, unchanged from October, as expected. Markets are behaving as if this strong report could cause the Federal Reserve to rethink its recent pivot to smaller interest rate hikes. They might be right.
The three major indexes traded lower after Friday’s opening bell.
After U.S. markets closed Thursday, Marvell Technology reported lower-than-expected revenue and earnings per share (EPS). The chipmaker also lowered fourth-quarter guidance. Shares traded down about 8.6% shortly after regular trading opened.
ChargePoint also missed consensus estimates on both EPS and revenue. The good news is that revenue nearly doubled. The company also issued revenue guidance for the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year in line with expectations. The stock traded down by about 2.5% Friday morning.
UiPath posted a surprise profit and beat the consensus revenue estimate. Fourth-quarter guidance fell short of analysts’ consensus estimate, however. No matter, shares traded up about 9.5% Friday morning.
AMC Entertainment got a share price boost of 13% on Thursday thanks to retail options traders who could not get their hands on enough of the shares. The stock traded up another 1.9%.
As is most often the case, there are no notable earnings reports due Friday or first thing Monday morning. Here is a preview of three companies set to report quarterly results later on Monday or early on Tuesday.
AutoZone
Auto parts retailer AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) has added more than 36% to its share price over the past 12 months. The stock posted a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company reports quarterly results on Tuesday morning.
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