Opening Comment — Thursday, November 06, 2025
DJIA: 47,311.00, up 225.76
S&P 500: 6,796.29, up 24.74
NASDAQ: 23,499.80, up 151.16
Stocks higher ahead of Fed speakers
Stock futures are mostly higher Thursday morning as investors assessed data which showed a significant number of October jobs cuts and ahead of a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers scheduled for today. As of 7:17 AM ET, the Dow is little changed, while the S&P 500 is up 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is also increasing 0.1% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday as the ADP Employment Change Report showed private nonfarm payroll gains for October of 42,000. The Institute for Supply Management’s services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for October increased more than anticipated to 52.4, while the prices paid component unexpectedly rose. The Dow was up 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%. The S&P 500 increased 0.4% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Communication Services sector was the top performer, rising 1.6%, while the Consumer Staples sector was the bottom performer, falling 0.3%.
On the data front, the Challenger Report for October showed a sharp increase in job cuts of 175.3% year-over-year (YOY) compared to prior month’s decrease of 25.8%. The release of several economic reports scheduled for today, including preliminary third-quarter productivity, weekly jobless claims, and finalized September’s wholesale trade will be delayed due to the ongoing government shutdown.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as the Bank of England (BOE) kept their policy rate at 4.00% in a 5-4 vote. Germany’s industrial production registered a smaller-than-expected increase of 1.3% month-over-month (MOM) in September. The U.K.’s and Germany’s construction PMIs declined further into contractionary territory in October. The eurozone’s retail sales unexpectedly declined by 0.1% MOM in September.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as Japan’s finalized October composite and services PMIs from S&P Global were both revised slightly higher, moving further into expansionary territory. The country’s labor cash earnings rose 1.9% YOY in September, in line with expectations. Australia’s September trade surplus came in lower than forecasted in September.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower following the BOE rate decision.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.6% higher at $59.95/barrel despite an unexpected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.0% higher at $4,018.07/ounce following a weakening U.S. dollar.
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