Opening Comment — Friday, March 06, 2026
DJIA: 47,954.74, down 784.67
S&P 500: 6,830.71, down 38.79
NASDAQ: 22,748.99, down 58.49
Stocks lower ahead of jobs report
Stock futures are lower Friday morning ahead of today’s key releases, including February’s jobs report, along with January’s retail sales and consumer credit data. Investors are also looking forward to a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers today, as well as continuing to assess development in the conflict in the Middle East. As of 7:19 AM ET, the Dow is decreasing 0.4%, while the S&P 500 is down 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.7% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were lower on Thursday as the February Challenger Report showed a steep decline in job cuts, easing some of the pressure seen in January. Meanwhile, import prices posted a smaller than expected increase of 0.2% month-over-month (MOM) in January, whereas export prices registered a stronger than expected gain of 0.6% MOM. The preliminary fourth quarter nonfarm productivity growth and unit labor costs both increased more than expected. Initial jobless claims came in lower than expected, while continuing claims for the week prior ticked up. The Dow was down 1.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.6% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Energy sector was the top performer, rising 0.6%, while the Consumer Staples sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.4%.
Technical Analysis
As of midday Thursday, the S&P 500 Index is still in an uptrend, with support at the 200-day moving average (6578) and resistance at the 50-day moving average (6904).
On the data front, retail sales are projected to decrease 0.3% month-over-month (MOM) in January, following little change in the prior month, while retail sales excluding autos are expected to flatline in January, similar to the previous month. February’s nonfarm payrolls are expected to expand by 55,000 versus the prior month’s 130,000, while manufacturing payrolls are projected to fall by 2,000 compared to the prior month’s increase of 5,000. The unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate are expected to remain steady at 4.3% and 62.5%, respectively. Average hourly earnings are projected to rise 0.3% MOM and 3.7% year-over-year (YOY) for February, compared to the prior month’s increases of 0.4% and 3.7%, respectively. Business inventories are expected to have increased by 0.1% MOM in December, similar to the prior month’s increase. Consumer credit is expected to have expanded by $12.65 billion in January, less than the prior month’s increase of $24.05 billion.
Across the pond, European stocks are lower in mid-day trading as the eurozone’s third reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) was revised to 0.2% quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) and 1.2% YOY, both slightly below the prior readings of 0.3% and 1.3%, respectively. The region’s finalized fourth quarter employment growth stood at 0.2% QOQ and 0.7% YOY.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as South Korea’s Consumer Price Index posted smaller than expected increases in February, rising 0.3% MOM and 2.0% YOY.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is little changed as investors await this Friday’s key U.S. jobs report for February.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 5.5% higher at $85.49/barrel amid geopolitical instability.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.1% lower at $5,079.77/ounce.