Stocks End Lower as Omicron Concerns Weigh On Markets
5:22 pm Friday, December 03rd, 2021
Markets ended a tumultuous week on an ominous note, with a broad technology-sector selloff sending the major U.S. stock indexes sharply lower and Treasury yields logging declines not seen since some of the worst days of the pandemic last year.
The market opened in the green after this morning’s release of a weaker than expected Employment Situation report for November, but a pullback began taking root immediately after the start. While the jobs report missed headline estimates, it showed continued employment growth, giving limited ammunition to the argument that the Fed may decide against accelerating the pace of the taper.
Nine out of eleven sectors trade in the red with top-weighted technology (-2.1%) showing the widest loss. Top-weighted components like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and NVIDIA (NVDA) are struggling in technology, which is also the case with other sectors. NVIDIA lags after the FTC sued to block the company from completing its acquisition of Arm Holdings.
On the earnings front, Marvell (MRVL) has jumped to a fresh record after beating Q3 expectations and issuing above-consensus guidance for Q4 while DocuSign (DOCU) has plunged to its lowest level since June 2020 after its Q3 beat was overshadowed by weaker than expected guidance.
Countercyclical sectors like consumer staples (+0.8%) and utilities (+0.5%) are among today’s few spots of relative strength while industrials (-0.3%) and materials (unch) briefly turned positive in recent trade.
Elsewhere, the energy sector (-0.7%) holds a slimmer loss than the broader market while crude oil is up $0.64, or 1.0%, at $67.14/bbl after approaching its 200-day moving average (69.89) in morning trade.
Treasuries started in negative territory, but a strong reversal has sent the 10-yr yield lower by eight basis points to 1.37%, its lowest level since late September.
November nonfarm payrolls increased by 210,000 (consensus 525,000). The 3-month average for total nonfarm payrolls decreased to 378,000 from 469,000 in October. October nonfarm payrolls revised to 546,000 from 531,000. September nonfarm payrolls revised to 379,000 from 312,000
