Stock futures slipped on Friday with the S&P 500 set to snap a 9-week winning streak after a stronger-than-expected jobs report worried traders that the Federal Reserve could keep rates higher for longer than expected. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 131 points, or about 0.4%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.5%. The U.S. economy added many more jobs than anticipated in December, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 216,000. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a gain of 170,000 for last month. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% in another sign of continued labor strength. The report sent Treasury yields spiking higher, with the benchmark 10-year rate trading around 4.08%. A strong labor market could mean that the Fed might potentially delay the first of its rate cuts, which traders have been eagerly anticipating. Before the strong data hit Friday, traders were hoping the Fed would start cutting rates as early as March and lower them by as many as six times in 2024. Those expectations will need to be dialed back after Friday’s report. The three major averages are all on track to break nine-week winning streaks, with the Nasdaq Composite suffering the biggest loss for the week at 3.3%.The S&P 500 and Dow are down 1.7% and 0.7%, respectively. The stock market surged to end 2023 as traders anticipated the Fed would pivot to easier monetary policy. The S&P 500′s winning streak to end the year was its longest in nearly two decades and brought the benchmark’s gain for the year to 24%. One other factor weighing on the market in the new year is the cooling off of large-cap tech stocks like Apple, which has been downgraded by two research shops this week. Amy Kong, partner at wealth management company Corient, said her firm is taking a breather from buying the large tech names, several of which make up its top holdings. “We are pausing on any new dollars going into this group of stocks. In general, the market after this great burst of optimism last quarter, is now sitting at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20-times this year’s earnings,” Kong said on “Closing Bell.” “It is a little bit high from an absolute standpoint, a little bit high from a historical standpoint, and so we need to see earnings grow into this multiple.” Apple was lower again in premarket trading Friday. U.S. Treasury yields continued to rise Friday as investors assessed a much hotter-than-expected December nonfarm payrolls report that showed ongoing strength in the labor market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury topped the closely watched 4% level and jumped nearly 9 basis points to 4.078%. The 2-year Treasury yield climbed 8 basis points to 4.468%. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Friday, after falling for the first few trading days of the new year, with most markets clocking declines at the end of the first week of this year. Most markets in Asia fell for the week, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down 2.8% and South Korea’s Kospi falling more than 3%. The Hang Seng fell 0.63%, while China’s CSI 300 dropped 0.54% to close at 3,329.11. On a weekly basis, the CSI 300 lost 2.97%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.07% lower at 7,489.10, extending declines to a third straight day. The index is down 1.3% for the week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.27% to close at 33,377.42, while the broader Topix added 0.62% to 2,393.54. This marks the first gain the Nikkei had since Japan’s New Year’s earthquake and JAL flight collision in the first two days of the year. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.35% and finished at 2,578.08, while the smaller-cap Kosdaq jumped 1.39% to end at 878.33%. The Topix and Kosdaq were among top gainers for the week, set to rise over 1% each. Oil prices gained on Friday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to visit the Middle East to try and prevent the Israel-Gaza conflict from widening. Brent crude futures were up 44 cents, or 0.57%, to $78.03 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 57 cents, or 0.79%, to $72.76 at 1032 GMT. At its intra-day peak, the WTI futures contract traded more than $1 above previous close. Gold prices slipped on Friday and were on track for their first weekly fall in four, weighed down by a stronger dollar and higher bond yields, while investors keenly awaited U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later in the day. Spot gold was down 0.2% to $2,038.49 per ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,045.40.
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