Opening Comment — Wednesday, February 11, 2026
DJIA: 50,188.14, up 52.27
S&P 500: 6,941.81, down 23.01
NASDAQ: 23,102.47, down 136.20
Stocks higher ahead of jobs report
Stock futures are higher Wednesday morning ahead of today’s delayed release of the January jobs report and final payroll revisions for the 12 months through March 2025. Investors are also looking forward to a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers scheduled for today. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both rising 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.2% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Tuesday as retail sales were unexpectedly flat in December. Import and export prices rose 0.1% and 0.3% month-over-month (MOM), respectively. Meanwhile, small business optimism decreased in January. The Dow was up 0.1% and reached a new record closing level of 50188.14, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.3% with six of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Utilities sector was the top performer, rising 1.6%, while the Health Care sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.9%.
On the data front, the Mortgage Banker Association’s gauge of mortgage applications decreased by 0.3% for the week ending February 6 versus the prior week’s decrease of 8.9%. January’s nonfarm payrolls are expected to expand by 65,000 versus the prior month’s 50,000 and manufacturing payrolls are projected to fall by 7,000 compared to the prior month’s decrease of 8,000. Average hourly earnings are projected to rise 0.3% MOM and 3.7% year-over-year (YOY) for January, similar to the prior month’s increases of 0.3% and 3.8%, respectively. Both the unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate are expected to remain steady at 4.4% and 62.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy’s measure of crude oil inventories is expected to have decreased by 24,000 barrels for the week ending February 6 versus the prior week’s decrease of 3.46 million barrels. The U.S. deficit for January is expected to narrow to $94.4 billion from the prior month’s $144.7 billion.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading ahead of tomorrow’s release of the U.K.’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product and December economic data.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as China’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) decelerated to 0.2% YOY in January, while the Producer Price Index (PPI) posted a smaller-than-expected decline of 1.4% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower ahead of today’s U.S. labor market data release.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.2% higher at $65.34/barrel ahead of an expected decline in reported crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.7% higher at $5,111.71/ounce following a weakening U.S. dollar.