Opening Comment — Thursday, January 08, 2026
DJIA: 48,996.08, down 466.00
S&P 500: 6,920.93, down 23.89
NASDAQ: 23,584.28, up 37.11
Stocks lower before unemployment claims data
Stock futures are lower Thursday morning ahead of today’s economic releases, including labor market and foreign trade data. As of 7:19 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.4%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.3% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Wednesday as the ADP Employment Change Report showed private nonfarm payroll gains for December coming in lower than projected. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management’s services purchasing managers’ index for December rose unexpectedly to 54.4. The November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed job openings falling to 7.15 million from a downwardly revised 7.45 million. The Dow was down 0.9%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.3% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Health Care sector was the top performer, rising 1.0%, while the Utilities sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.5%.
On the data front, the Challenger Report on job cuts for December showed a decline of 8.3% year-over-year (YOY), following November’s 23.5% increase. The preliminary reading of third-quarter nonfarm productivity is expected to show an increase of 5.0% quarter-over-quarter, versus the prior quarter’s increase of 3.3%, while unit labor costs are forecasted to have decreased at an annualized 0.1% pace, reversing from the prior quarter’s increase of 1.0%. Initial jobless claims for the week ending January 3 are expected to come in at 212,000, higher than the prior week’s 199,000, while continuing claims are expected to come in at 1.90 million for the week ending December 27, up from the prior week’s 1.87 million. The U.S. trade deficit is expected to widen in October to $58.7 billion from the prior month’s $52.8 billion. The finalized October reading of wholesale inventories is expected to show an increase of 0.2% month-over-month (MOM), down from the prior estimate of 0.5%. Meanwhile October’s wholesale trade sales is expected to show a decline of 0.2% MOM, similar to the prior month’s decline. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will release their December Survey of Consumer Expectations, including a measure of inflation expectations. Consumer credit is expected to have expanded by $10.08 billion in November, more than the prior month’s increase of $9.18 billion.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as German factory orders unexpectedly increased in November, rising by 5.6% MOM and recording a greater-than-expected increase of 10.5% YOY. Meanwhile, France’s trade deficit widened in November. The eurozone’s Producer Price Index for November accelerated to 0.5% MOM but recorded a 1.7% YOY decline, matching expectations. Meanwhile, the bloc’s November unemployment rate ticked down to 6.3%.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly lower as Japan’s labor cash earnings showed a smaller-than-forecasted increase of 0.5% YOY in November. The country’s consumer confidence index unexpectedly fell in December. Australia’s trade surplus unexpectedly narrowed in November, as exports declined and imports rose.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. unemployment claims data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.4% higher at $56.79/barrel following a greater-than-expected decline in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.7% lower at $4,424.99/ounce following a strengthening U.S. dollar.