The Dow Jones (DJIA) is close to breakeven on the day, alternating several times between positive and negative territory.
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Before the market open, the Department of Labor announced that initial jobless claims for the week ended November 29 fell by 27,000 to 216,000 and were below the consensus estimate of 220,000. These claims, which are at the lowest level since September 2022, track the number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time and generally rise alongside layoffs. Continuing jobless claims were 1.939 million for the week ended November 22, slightly below the estimate of 1.963 million. Both data points were better than expected, although several economists warned that claims data during holiday periods can be skewed.
“Initial claims can be subject to big swings at this time of year, so we won’t read too much into one week’s number,” said Oxford Economics lead economist Nancy Vanden Houten.
Furthermore, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that U.S. employers announced 71,321 layoffs in November, the highest level for the month since 2022. That comes after employers announced 153,074 planned layoffs in October, the highest for the month in 22 years.
“Layoff plans fell last month, certainly a positive sign. That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008,” said Challenger, Gray & Christmas CRO Andy Challenger.
On Friday, the Fed will receive its last gauge of inflation before the December 9-10 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting when the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes October’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index. Investors are also looking ahead to the preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment for December.
The Dow Jones is up by less than 0.01% at the time of writing.
Which Stocks are Moving the Dow Jones?
Let’s pivot to TipRanks’ Dow Jones Heatmap, which illustrates the stocks that have contributed to the index’s price action.
Salesforce (CRM) is leading the tech sector higher after the company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings, with an adjusted EPS of $3.25 and revenue of $10.26 billion. Analysts were expecting an adjusted EPS of $2.86 and revenue of $10.27 billion. Despite the slight revenue miss, Salesforce guided for fourth-quarter revenue between $11.13 and $11.23 billion, topping the estimate of $10.9 billion.
Meanwhile, DA Davidson said Microsoft (MSFT) “remains our favorite mega cap pick” and reiterated its price target of $650, citing the company as a major AI beneficiary. Furthermore, Amazon (AMZN) is in the red following reports that the e-commerce leader was considering cutting ties with USPS and building its own delivery network if the two companies aren’t able to reach an agreement.
Elsewhere, all four stocks in the healthcare sector are in negative territory, while Caterpillar (CAT) is up by nearly 2%, bringing its six-month return to over 70%.
DIA Stock Moves Higher with the Dow Jones
The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) is an exchange-traded fund designed to track the movement of the Dow Jones. As a result, DIA is rising alongside the Dow Jones today.
Wall Street believes that DIA stock has room to rise. During the past three months, analysts have issued an average DIA price target of $529.77, implying upside of 10.45% from current prices. The 30 holdings in DIA carry 29 buy ratings, one hold rating, and zero sell ratings.
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