U.S. stocks lagged Thursday ahead of monthly employment data as traders failed to continue momentum from a rally fueled by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s in rate increases.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 200 points, or 0.6%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was an outlier — closing up 0.1%. In other pockets of the market, the U.S. dollar index retreated as the greenback had its worst monthly performance in over a decade, and U.S. Treasury yields held steady after sharp declines.

Investors look ahead to the Labor Department’s November employment report, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect payrolls rose by 200,000 last month while the unemployment rate held at 3.7%.

On the economic data front Thursday, the core personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) — an inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve  less than expected and another sign of a cooling inflation picture.

Meanwhile, filings for unemployment insurance fell last week, holding near historic lows. Initial jobless claims, the most timely snapshot of the labor market, came in at 225.0000 a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level, Labor Department figures showed Thursday.

The stock moves Thursday follow burth in the previous session on the heels of a speech by Powell in Washington, D.C., in U.S. central bank officials may downshift the final interest rate hike of the year later this month to 50 basis points. Wednesday saw the S&P 500 bounce 3.1%, the Dow rise 2%, or more than 700 points — and exit a bear market — and the Nasdaq surge 4.4%.

“It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down,” Powell said, speaking at the Brookings Institution, as he acknowledged the “uncertain lags” of monetary tightening. “The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting.”

Powell’s comments are likely the last public remarks he’ll deliver before Federal Reserve officials enter a blackout period — a time policymakers limit public speaking prior to a policy-setting meeting — ahead of their next gathering Dec. 13-14.

“The focus now should not be on the pace, but how much higher rates will need to go and how long they will need to stay there,” Jason England, global bonds portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors said in a note. “As the Fed will need to see ‘substantially more evidence’ that inflation is easing before they pause and Powell ended his speech by saying ‘history cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy,’ pricing in cuts is premature.”

Sentiment also got a boost Thursday from easing concerns over China’s zero-COVID unrest after top government official Vice Premier Sun Chunlan urgend as pathogenicity weakens.
Meanwhile on the corporate side, all eyes were on Salesforce (following news Co-Chief Executive Officer Bret Taylor would sted and co-founder Marc Benioff will become the sole CEO. Shares fell 8%.

Snowflak show shares rallied nearly 8%, even as the company’s fourth-quarter product revenue forecast missed estimates on an expected slowdown in tech spending.

(Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Wednesday declined to put on hold a Texas judge’s ruling that said President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt was unlawful. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Biden administration’s request to pause a judge’s Nov. 10 order vacating the $400 billion student debt relief program in a lawsuit pursued by a conservative advocacy group. The decision by Fort Worth, Texas-based U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman was one of two nationally that has prevented the U.S. Department of Education under the Democratic president from moving forward with granting debt relief to millions of borrowers.

LONDON (Reuters) -BlackRock Investment Institute is not “chasing” the stock rally triggered by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell’s latest comments because U.S. interest rates are still likely to stay elevated, its global chief investment strategist said on Thursday. Stock markets have been cheered by comments from Powell on Wednesday that signalled this year’s frantic pace of U.S. interest rate hikes could be about to slow. The S&P 500, a broad gauge of U.S. stocks, on Thursday rose to its highest level since September.

Wall Street witnessed an impressive rally following dovish comments from the Fed Chairman.
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Statements Sam Bankman-Fried made in two interviews this week will be closely examined by law enforcement and regulatory agencies probing how FTX handled customer funds.

The Rolling Stones are releasing what they call a “live greatest hits album” early next year. The collection will consist of live performances from 2012.

The rate on the average 30-year fixed mortgage declined to 6.49% this week from 6.58% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac.

The court said it would hear arguments concerning the measure during its February 2023 session.
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Nio is growing rapidly, as its latest delivery numbers suggest, but this week’s epic rally was driven almost entirely by one macroeconomic trigger. For that matter, Nio’s CEO William Li also had some big things to say this week, including his belief that Nio will give German luxury carmaker BMW a run for its money. Because Nio is a Chinese company, its stock price has been all over the place in recent months as China grappled with surging COVID-19 cases and put large regions, including important manufacturing hubs, under strict lockdowns.

ZIM (ZIM) has been one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com users lately. So, it is worth exploring what lies ahead for the stock.

Shares of restaurant company Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ: CBRL) crumbled on Friday after the company reported financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal 2023 and lowered expectations for the rest of the year. As of 11:30 a.m. ET, Cracker Barrel stock was down 11%. Cracker Barrel is a tale of two lines: the top and bottom.

In this article, we discuss the 11 best aggressive stocks to buy now. If you want to read about some more aggressive stocks, go directly to the 5 Best Aggressive Stocks to Buy Now. Aggressive stocks are high-risk, high-reward growth stocks that can provide investors with strong returns. Growth stocks offer a substantially higher growth […]
Zacks.com users have recently been watching Lumen (LUMN) quite a bit. Thus, it is worth knowing the facts that could determine the stock’s prospects.

Boeing could be close to a major win over rival Airbus amid reports of a big 787 Dreamliner order by United Airlines.
Shares of Costco fell after November data revealed a drop in sales.

Trading was halted for AMC after the stock saw heavy volume on Thursday afternoon.
Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss the decline in stock for Zscaler following first-quarter earnings.
Shares of Spectrum Brands (NYSE: SPB) were surging 21.9% higher at 11:07 a.m. ET Friday morning after the consumer and home products company announced it was another step closer to selling off its hardware and home improvement (HHI) business for $4.3 billion. While the development could be a good one for Spectrum, it’s still an amazing jump in the share price. Over a year ago, Spectrum Brands had announced its intention to sell the HHI business to Assa Abloy (OTC: ASAZY), a Swedish conglomerate.

With shares of Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AXSM) skyrocketing 87% so far this year, the biotech’s shareholders are doubtlessly pleased. Thanks to a pair of newly approved products, growth is finally on the way — with revenue set to go from practically $0 to more than $100 million in the course of a year.