9:00am (EST)
The market finished Wednesday slightly higher as the bulls managed to push the major indexes right up to major resistance levels ahead of this morning’s unemployment report.
The Dow started off in negative territory before finishing the session with a gain of 46 points, or 0.4%, and closed at 10,572. The index is trading near its August highs and we have been watching the 10,600 level all week as the pivot point.
The S&P 500 also finished near its highs, adding 4 points, or 0.4%, to close right on our 1,125 target. It was the index’s third straight close above its 200-day moving average.
The Nasdaq added 11 points, or 0.5%, to close slightly above our 2,300 target at 2,301.
We couldn’t have called it any better in our Weekly Wrap and we had a feeling things would come down to this morning’s unemployment numbers.
Futures were lower ahead of this morning’s report and stayed that way after the release of the jobless claims and producer price index reports. Initial jobless claims were 450,000 versus the expected 459,000, while continuing claims came in at 4.48 million versus expectations of 4.46 million.
Elsewhere, the producer price index (PPI) showed an increase of 0.4% versus expectations for a 0.3% increase, while the core reading was up 0.1% as expected.
We said yesterday the bulls will need to get initial claims under 400,000 to have a sustained rally while the bears would like to see a number over 500,000. They split.
Futures are still pointing towards a lower open and have actually worsened as we head towards the opening bell. Dow futures are down 41 points to 10,468 while the S&P 500 futures are off by 6 points to 1,115. The Nasdaq 100 futures are lower by 7 points to 1,933.
As far as specific stocks this morning, we are watching FedEx (FDX, $85.94, up $0.85). The company reported earnings before the bell and missed Wall Street’s expectations. Shares are down $2.50 in pre-market action and we will go over their numbers in our 1pm update. Subscribers, check the Members Area for the updates.
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