Opening Comment — Thursday, November 20, 2025
DJIA: 46,138.77, up 47.03
S&P 500: 6,642.16, up 24.84
NASDAQ: 22,564.23, up 131.38
Stocks higher ahead of jobs report
Stock futures are higher Thursday morning ahead of today’s release of the September jobs report. Investors will also be looking for fresh unemployment claims and October’s existing home sales data. As of 7:16 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.4%, while the S&P 500 is up 1.0%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 1.5% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday as the Federal Open Market Committee’s October 28-29 minutes revealed many policymakers favor leaving rates steady in December, though some believed a cut “could well be appropriate in December if the economy evolved about as they expected.” The U.S. trade deficit for August narrowed more than expected, coming in at $59.6 billion. The Dow was up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6%. The S&P 500 increased 0.4% with six of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Information Technology sector was the top performer, rising 0.9%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 1.3%.
On the data front, initial jobless claims for the week ending November 15 are expected to come in at 227,000, while continuing claims are expected to come in at 1.95 million for the week ending November 8. September’s nonfarm payrolls are expected to expand by 51,000 versus the prior month’s 22,000, while manufacturing payrolls are projected to fall by 7,000 compared to the prior month’s decrease of 12,000. The unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate are expected to remain steady at 4.3% and 62.3%, respectively. Average hourly earnings are projected to rise 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) and 3.7% year-over-year (YOY) for September, both similar to the prior month’s increases. The Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Philadelphia will release their November Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey, with the diffusion index of current general activity forecasted to rise to 1.0 from the prior month’s negative 12.8. Existing home sales are forecasted to have been at an annualized 4.08 million pace in October versus the prior month’s 4.06 million pace, corresponding to an increase of 0.5% versus the prior month’s increase of 1.5%. The Kansas City Fed will release their manufacturing survey for November, with the Composite Index expected to come in at 3, down from the prior month’s 6.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as Germany’s October Producer Price Index (PPI) edged up 0.1% MOM, versus expectations for no change, while falling 1.8% YOY.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as China’s one- and five-year loan prime rates were left steady at 3.00% and 3.50%, respectively.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed ahead of today’s U.S. jobs report data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.9% higher at $59.98/barrel following a greater-than-expected decline in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.5% lower at $4,057.82/ounce.