Stocks End Mixed, All Eyes On This Morning’s Employment Report

Market Moves You Need to See Stocks End Mixed, All Eyes On This Morning’s Employment Report [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks End Mixed, All Eyes On This Morning’s Employment Report [Stocks End Mixed, All Eyes On This Morning’s Employment Report]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed mixed yesterday with the Dow eking out a small gain, while the S&P and Nasdaq saw modest losses. It's worth noting that all of the indexes were up earlier in the day, but gave back virtually all their intraday gains (and then some), by day's end. Yesterday's PMI report showed the Composite Index coming in at 50.9 vs. last month's 51.0. The Services Index was at 51.4 vs. last month's 51.3. Weekly Jobless Claims fell -18,000 to 202K vs. the consensus for 217.5K. The smoother 4-week moving average fell to 207.75K vs. last week's 212.5K. The Challenger Job-Cut report showed 34,817 announced layoffs vs. last month's 44,510. And the ADP Employment report estimated 164,000 new private payroll jobs were created in December, well above last month's 101,000 and views for 115,000. But the jobs report everybody is really waiting for is this morning's always important Employment Situation report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The consensus is calling for 164,000 new jobs to have been created last month (127,000 in the private sector and 37,000 in the public), while the unemployment rate ticks up to 3.8% from 3.7%, and average hourly earnings on a y/y basis comes in at 3.9% vs. last month's 4.0% pace. If the consensus holds true, the 164K headline number for December will be down from November's 199K, and the private payrolls tally of 127K will be down from 150K. Given the sharp increase in yesterday's ADP report vs. the consensus, it's possible we will see the same thing play out in today's BLS report. Although, the ADP report has a spotty track record of predicting what the BLS report will say, so we shall see. That report comes out at 8:30 AM ET. In addition to the jobs report, we'll also get the ISM Services Index, and the Factory Orders report. As I mentioned yesterday, pullbacks are never fun when they're happening. But I suspect many are glad to see it. It's giving many an opportunity to pull profits now that the new year is here (you can be sure many waited until the new year began so as to push their tax obligation into 2025 rather than 2024). And the lower prices will give others a chance to build positions at better entries rather than have to chase it higher. After 9 up weeks in a row, the pause we're seeing now is warranted and should ultimately help refresh and strengthen the market before the next leg up. Whether that's today, next week, or later, there's lots of optimism for the market in 2024. Especially with inflation on the decline, and rates expected to fall. Add in the favorable stats of the 4-year Presidential cycle which shows that year 4 (that's 2024), is the second-best year of all four years (the best year of the cycle is year 3, and that was 2023), and the odds increase even more for another solid year in the market. Best, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research [Alert: Buy These Ultimate Four Stocks Now]( There's still time to get in early. These aren't just 4 promising stocks. They were handpicked from hundreds of strong companies by Zacks' experts because they present the greatest upside for Q1: Stock #1: This red-hot fintech company added 2.2 million new customers in Q3 and set a new revenue record. Now it's taking a strategy from Square's playbook, a move that promises to further accelerate the company’s momentum. Stock #2: An under-the-radar midcap set to benefit from a long-term breakout in one essential commodity. 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