Stocks Open Lower on Fed Followers and Shutdown Worries Stock

Stock market news today: US futures fall as December jobs report comes in strong

U.S. stock futures fell on Friday and are on track to snap a streak of nine weekly gains as investors digested more strong jobs data that will influence interest rate cut expectations.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and S&P 500 (^GSPC) both fell about 0.5%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) led the decline, down 0.6%.

All three indexes fell after the release of the U.S. jobs report for December, which showed the U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December, more than the 175,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7%.

Stock prices have slumped in the first week of 2024, marking a sharp reversal from a stormy rally driven by high hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon begin easing monetary policy. But doubts have arisen over whether policymakers are ready for a U-turn and traders have trimmed their bets on a rate cut in March.

After Friday's payroll report release, investors' bets on a rate cut by the Fed's March meeting were at about 50-50, according to data from CME Group, a significant decline from the previous month.

Read more: What the Fed's pause on rate hikes means for bank accounts, CDs, loans and credit cards

Against this backdrop, U.S. bond yields continued to rise, with the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) rising 3.7 basis points to 4.04% after rising sharply on Thursday.

Elsewhere, iPhone maker Foxconn (2354.TW) said it expects first-quarter sales to fall due to weaker market demand. Shares of Apple (AAPL) fell in premarket trading, adding to losses after two analysts downgraded the iPhone maker on concerns about sales of its next smartphone.

Live1 update

  • Stock market news today US futures fall as December jobsFri, January 5, 2024 at 1:45 p.m. GMT

    The US economy added 216,000 jobs in December, causing stock prices to fall

    According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7%.

    Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer has all the details here.

    Following the report, stock prices fell as traders reduced their bets on a rate cut by the Federal Reserve. All three indices lost over 0.4% in premarket trading.

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