Wall Street Indexes Extend Weekly Advance, Private Payrolls Growth Slows In November

Barry Adams
04 Dec, 2024
New York City

Wall Street indexes edged higher after two leading technology companies reported quarterly results. 

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7% following positive results from Salesforce.com and Marvell Technology. 

Market indexes have been on an upswing, and the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite traded at new intraday record highs amid a positive outlook for the economy. 

Private payrolls expanded by 146,000 in November, according to the latest survey released by ADP on Wednesday. 

The payroll expansion slowed from the downwardly revised 184,000 in October, and wage growth rose by 4.8%—the fastest pace in 27 months. 

ADP data series is highly volatile and subject to sharp revisions, and investors put higher weight on the nonfarm payrolls released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

On Friday, the BLS is expected to report November nonfarm payroll to increase by 214,000. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.3% to 6,081.28, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% to 19,620.32, and the Russell 2000 index inched higher by 0.3% to 2,431.07. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged higher to 4.21%, 10-year Treasury notes inched up to 4.27%, and 30-year Treasury bonds increased to 4.45%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.04 to $70.01 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged down 4 cents to $3.01 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $4.62 to $2,638.12 an ounce, and silver fell by $0.46 to $30.53. 

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged higher by 0.22 to 106.58.

 

Stock Movers 

Salesforce jumped 12% to $371.20 after the customer relations software developer reported better-than-expected quarterly results. 

The company reported higher-than-expected revenue in the third quarter of $9.44 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $2.41. 

Marvell Technology jumped 13% to $108.30 after the advanced chipmaker reported higher-than-expected third quarter earnings. 

Stock soared after the company estimated fourth quarter revenue of $1.8 billion. 

Okta Inc. jumped 13% to $92.35, and the identity and access management company said revenue in the third quarter increased 14% from a year ago to $569 million. 

The company also guided revenue in the fourth quarter to range between $667 million and $669 million. 

Chewy Inc. decreased 1.9% to $32.99, and the online pet food store reported mixed quarterly results.

Revenue in the third quarter increased to $2.88 billion, and diluted earnings per share were 20 cents per share. 

However, the company's estimate of revenue in the fourth quarter and full year was ahead of market expectations. 

Foot Locker dropped 19% to $19.71 after the athletic footwear retailer reported third quarter revenue of $1.96 billion and diluted earnings per share of 33 cents. 

Dollar Tree jumped 3.6% to $75.09 after the deep discount retailer reported better-than-expected revenue and earnings in the third quarter. 

Revenue increased to $7.56 billion, and diluted earnings per share advanced to $1.12.