Stock market news live updates: Stocks mixed amid low jobless claims, Fed announcement

Market Trading EssentialsDecember 16, 2021

5 minutes read

Stocks traded mixed Thursday after new unemployment data showed another print near a pandemic-era low. The market staged a U-turn in yesterday’s session, welcoming a Federal Reserve decision to ramp up the pace of its taper and leave interest rates unchanged — for now.

The Dow was up more than 100 points, while Nasdaq fell by more than 200 points, or 1.8%. The S&P 500 also turned red in the afternoon after opening the day higher.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden signed a bill that averted the U.S. government from defaulting. The bill raised the U.S. debt limit to $31.4 trillion from $2.5 billion.

Fed officials yeasterday outlined plans to accelerate the wind down of monthly bond purchases at twice the tempo previously expected, putting the central bank on track to phase out the program completely by March. In a hawkish pivot on how aggressively monetary policymakers planned to combat inflation, the Federal Open Market Committee also signaled it was likely to raise interest rates three times next year in a noticeable adjustment from September projections that reflected a 50-50 split on a rate hike in 2022.

“Supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have contributed to elevated levels of inflation,” the FOMC said in its statement. The committee also noted that Omicron and other new variants of COVID-19 remain risks to the economic outlook.

“The upshot of these new forecasts is that the Fed has moved into line with market thinking,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a note. “The key question now is the timing of the first hike?”

“If it weren’t for Omicron, we’d expect it in March, but experience elsewhere signals that the U.S. is about to see a massive, unprecedented surge in COVID cases, with unknowable — but likely temporary — consequences for the economy,” he wrote. “We think this will delay the first hike until May, with the next moves in September and December.”

The Fed’s so-called “dot plot,” a summary of individual members’ outlooks for economic conditions and interest rates, showed the median number of FOMC members expected three rate hikes in 2022, up to four in 2023 and two projected for 2024, reflecting a faster pace for rate increases than anticipated in September’s forecast.

“This is a big shift from the September summary of economic projections, but it’s not necessarily a big shift from what the market was already pricing in ahead of today’s meeting based on some of the more recent commentary we’ve had from officials and the recent data,” Wells Fargo senior economist Sarah House told Yahoo Finance Live.

1:20 p.m. ET: Adobe erases more than 10%

Shares of Adobe were down 10.32%, trading at $565.27 on Thursday—the lowest level in more than two months. The decline comes after the company reported sales forecasts for the fiscal first quarter and full year that missed consensus estimates.

“With two consecutive softer quarters, we expect investors to grow increasingly wary that ADBE is facing new headwinds – either reopening or competitive,” said Tyler Radke, software equity research analyst at Citi.

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12:58 p.m. ET: Cisco reaches dot-com levels

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) traded to its highest level since September 2000, gaining as much as 1.4% during midday trading, according to Bloomberg data. The company traded at $60.35, up +0.71% into to the afternoon session.

The move comes after Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Cisco Systems to $61 from $59, maintaining its Equal weight on the stock. The firm attributed the new price target increased earnings per share estimates for 2023.

“Risks to our price target include a prolonged macro downturn, share loss resulting from supply chain constraints, or revenue headwinds seen with business model transitions,” Morgan Stanley said.

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12:31 p.m. ET: S&P 500 joins Nasdaq in the red

Here were the main moves in markets as of 12:31 p.m. ET:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): -19.04 (-0.40%) to 4,690.81
Dow (^DJI): +98.01 (+0.27%) to 36,025.44
Nasdaq (^IXIC): -286.33 (-1.84%) to 15,279.25
Crude (CL=F): +$1.78 (+2.51%) to $72.65 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$34.30 (+1.94%) to $1,798.80 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -3.9 bps to yield 1.4240%

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11:00 a.m. ET: Nasdaq down by more than 100 points

Here were the main moves in markets as of 11:00 a.m. ET:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): +8.73 (+0.19%) to 4,718.58
Dow (^DJI): +224.02 (+0.62%) to 36,151.45
Nasdaq (^IXIC): -108.22 (-0.70%) to 15,457.36
Crude (CL=F): +$1.62 (+2.29%) to $72.49 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$34.10 (+1.93%) to $1,798.60 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -3 bps to yield 1.4330%

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9:59 a.m. ET: U.S. services, manufacturing activity growth slowed slightly in December amid heightened inflation: IHS Markit

Activity in the U.S. services and manufacturing sectors decelerated in early December but still held in expansionary territory, with stubbornly elevated prices looming over economic growth.

IHS Markit’s preliminary December U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) registered at 57.8, coming in below November’s 58.3. Consensus economists had been looking for a slight increase in the index to 58.5, according to Bloomberg data. Readings above the neutral level of 50.0 indicate expansion in a sector.

Meanwhile, IHS Markit’s services PMI also ticked down compared to November, coming in at 57.5 compared to the prior month’s 58.0. This also missed expectations for 58.8.

While overall business activity held up last month, many firms cited the burden of increased costs.

“Inflationary pressures continued to mount, with firms facing ever increasing input prices,” IHS Markit wrote in its press release on Thursday. “The pace of cost inflation accelerated again to reach a fresh series record.”

“Companies reported broad-based upticks in cost burdens, with a range of key materials noted higher in price, alongside soaring transportation and distribution fees,” the release added. “With the exception of rates seen in October and November, the latest uptick in selling prices was nevertheless the fastest on record (since October 2009).”

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open higher

Here’s where markets were trading just after the opening bell Thursday morning:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): +17.38 (+0.37%) to 4,727.23
Dow (^DJI): +161.78 (+0.45%) to 36,089.21
Nasdaq (^IXIC): +45 (+0.29%) to 15,615.63
Crude (CL=F): +$0.77 (+1.09%) to $71.64 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): +$24.10 (+1.37%) to $1,788.60 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): -1.6 bps to yield 1.446%

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8:50 a.m. ET: Housing starts post bigger-than-expected jump in November

U.S. homebuilding picked up at a faster-than-expected rate in November to rebound after a drop during the prior month.

Housing starts rose 11.8% on a month-over-month basis in November, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. This easily topped estimates for the 3.1% increase expected, based on Bloomberg consensus data. It also brought housing starts up to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.679 million – an eight-month high. In October, housing starts fell by 3.1%, or by a larger margin than the drop of 0.7% previously reported.

Building permits, which serve as an indicator of future homebuilding, also posted a larger-than-anticipated rise. These increased by 3.6% in November to exceed economists’ expectations for a 0.5% gain.

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8:30 a.m. ET: Jobless claims stay near pre-pandemic low

First-time unemployment filings were up from last week’s half-century low but continued to trend downward overall from the highs of their pandemic peak, reflecting labor market tightness brought on by a lingering shortage of workers.

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that new initial jobless claims totaled 206,000 for the week ending December 11, up slightly from last week and lower than Bloomberg consensus estimates of 220,000. At 184,000, the previous figure for initial filings for unemployment insurance benefits was the lowest since Sept. 1969.

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