Stocks and Treasury Yields Volatile Ahead of Nonfarm Payrolls Data On Friday

Barry Adams
05 Oct, 2023
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street edged lower in cautious trading ahead nonfarm payrolls data on Friday. 

Investors have been cautious and stocks have been under pressure for three weeks in a row after Treasury yields suddenly began to rise, crude oil soared and fears of higher-for-longer drove market sentiment. 

The U.S. labor market is expected to add about 185,000 net new jobs in September, according to estimates of some economists tracked by Ticker.com. 

The U.S. economy is on track to add net new 2 million jobs in 2023, if the current pace of hiring continues in the fourth quarter. 

Initial claims of jobless benefits increased 2,000 to 207,000 in the week ending on September 30, the U.S. Department of Labor reported in its weekly update on Thursday. 

The jobless claims dropped near the seven-month low of 202,000 in March, suggesting that labor market conditions remain tight. 

Crude oil prices are on track to decline and extend weekly loss to more than 10%. 

West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined 7.5% in the week so-far and Brent crude prices are down 11% in the period. 

The sharp reversal in crude oil prices reflected change in market sentiment on the worries that the expected global demand growth is not likely to materialize on the ongoing uneven economic rebound in China. 

 

U.S. Indexes & Yields 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.3% to 4,253.14 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 13,200.32. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes increased to 5.02%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 4.72% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 4.88%. 

Crude oil decreased $0.82 to $83.38 a barrel and natural gas prices increased 6 cents to $3.02 a thermal unit. 

The dollar index edged lower to 106.65, the level last seen in November 2022 and extended gains from the low of 99.85 on July 13, 2023.  

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Energy stocks continued to decline for the second day in a row. 

ExxonMobil, Chevron, Marathon Petroleum, Hess Corp and Occidental Petroleum declined between 1% and 2%. 

Rivian Automotive Inc dropped 16.5% to $19.78 after the company said it plans to raise $1.5 billion through the sale of convertible bonds. 

The electric vehicle maker also estimated third quarter sales between $1.29 billion and $1.31 billion and reported decline in cash and cash equivalent. 

Clorox Co dropped 7.6% to $121.69 after the company forecasted weaker-than-expected fiscal first quarter outlook. 

The consumer products maker said that the recent cyber attack costs outweighed benefits achieved through better pricing and supply chain improvements. 

On September 25, Clorox began the process of transitioning back to automated order processing, helping the company to increase its shipment and rebuild inventories for retailers. 

Net sales in the fiscal first quarter is expected to decline between 28% and 23% from a year ago and diluted loss per share between 75 cents and 35 cents.