The US labour market showed signs of a steady slowdown in October, with job openings increasing moderately and layoffs declining, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. Job openings, a key indicator of labour demand, rose by 372,000 to 7.744 million at the end of October. However, the September figures were revised downward to 7.372 million from the initially reported 7.443 million. Economists polled by Reuters had anticipated 7.475 million vacancies. Labour Market Dynamics While job openings increased, hires dropped by 269,000 to 5.313 million, and layoffs fell by 169,000 to 1.633 million. These figures suggest a gradual cooling of the labour market rather than a sharp contraction. Hurricanes and strikes also impacted October’s labour market data. Rebuilding efforts in storm-affected regions and the resolution of strikes at Boeing and another aerospace company are expected to contribute to a ...
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rebounded on Thursday, buoyed by Tesla’s positive earnings forecast, which boosted market sentiment after a prior selloff. Tesla shares surged nearly 16.7%, adding more than US$100 billion (RM435.2 billion) to its market capitalization following robust third-quarter profits and a surprising forecast of 20%-30% sales growth next year.
This optimism lifted the Consumer Discretionary sector by 2.4%, making it the top performer among the S&P 500’s 11 sectors. Other major growth stocks, including Nvidia (+0.8%) and Meta Platforms (+0.6%), also saw gains.
Conversely, the Materials sector fell by 1%, dragged down by Newmont after it missed profit estimates due to higher costs and weaker production in Nevada. IBM dropped nearly 7% after missing third-quarter revenue estimates, weighing on the Dow. Additionally, Boeing fell 1.9% as factory workers continued their strike, and Honeywell slipped 3.8% following a weaker-than-expected annual sales forecast.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 156.57 points (-0.37%) at 42,358.38, while the S&P 500 gained 7.94 points (+0.14%) to 5,805.36, and the Nasdaq Composite added 70.52 points (+0.39%) to 18,347.18.
Treasury yields eased slightly, but the 10-year yield remained around its highest since July, briefly touching 4.26% on Wednesday. Despite concerns about Federal Reserve rate cuts, corporate earnings, and election uncertainty, Tesla’s positive results and guidance provided a welcome boost.
On the earnings front, UPS rose 7.6% on strong third-quarter profits, while FedEx gained 2.4%. In the airline sector, Southwest Airlines fell 2.5%, while American Airlines gained 3.4% after reporting earnings.
As of now, 32% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, with 79% beating earnings estimates, according to LSEG data.
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