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The S&P 500 Is Red Again After Weak JOLTS and Manufacturing Data

The S&P 500 Is Red Again After Weak JOLTS and Manufacturing Data

Published: by Omor IE

Key Points

  • The stock market is down in the morning today as macro data makes Wall Street more anxious.

  • Tariffs are also taking effect on Wednesday, so the market is preparing for the shock.

  • The market declined in a similar fashion yesterday but closed green before closing.

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The stock market slipped as the markets opened today, but the sentiment so far looks better than yesterday. On Wednesday, the stock market declined sharply early in the morning but made a comeback as the session went on. The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed green, and the Nasdaq was only barely in the red.

Today, we’re just one day away from “Liberation Day” tariffs and two days away from auto tariffs going into effect. The stock market has opened red, but many are optimistic that it will start heading higher today as well due to indexes forming a higher low. There’s plenty of pessimism in the market due to key macro figures coming in.

Here’s a market update as of 10:30 A.M (ET) today.

  • The S&P 500 is down 38.59 points, or 0.69%.
  • The Nasdaq Composite is down 79.68 points, or 0.46%.
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 409.84 points, or 0.98%.

Macro Data Today

  • The U.S. Redbook Index year-over-year came in at 4.8%. This metric shows same-store sales growth. This is a deceleration from the 5.6% figure on March 25th.
  • The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) came in at 7.568 million. This is lower than 7.74 million previously and is also lower than the 7.6575 million forecast. The market sold off sharply right after the data came in as this means the labor market is cooling faster than expected.
  • Manufacturing inflation is rising faster than expected as the United States ISM Manufacturing Prices Paid came in at 69.4 points. This is higher than the 64.6 forecast and much higher than 62.4 points in February.
  • The ISM Manufacturing PMI fell to 49 and is slightly below the 49.5 consensus.
  • ISM’s Tim Fiore: “In March, U.S. manufacturing activity slipped into contraction after expanding only marginally in February. The expansion in both February and January followed 26 consecutive months of contraction.”
  • The ISM Manufacturing Employment Index also came in lower than expected at 44.7 vs. the 47.3 forecast.
  • US S&P Manufacturing PMI did home in higher at 50.2 vs. the 49.9 forecast.

What the Fed’s Barkin Said

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin spoke earlier this morning. Here’s what he said:

“Employers are not reporting tightness in the labor market.”

“Tariffs to present challenges to inflation and employment.”

He also said that Trump’s tariffs will raise both inflation and unemployment. The shock from tariffs could result in a “cage match” between consumers and providers. Moreover, he admitted that the bond market is pricing in more recession risk.

Other Assets

  • Gold has continued to rise today, albeit less sharply. It is up 0.16%.
  • Natural gas futures are down by 1%.
  • Crude oil futures are up 0.43%.
  • Bitcoin is up 0.6% in the past 24 hours.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©alexsl / iStock via Getty Images.

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