Investing.com – Wall Street traded mixed on Thursday amid ongoing uncertainty ahead of next week's U.S. presidential election and Friday’s nonfarm payrolls, while a dismal outlook from Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) weighed on investor sentiment in tech shares.
At 11:13AM ET (15:13GMT), the Dow Jones inched up 13 points, or 0.07%, the S&P 500 slipped 2 points, or 0.08% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 19 points, or 0.38%.
The S&P 500 showed choppy trade on Thursday with market participants hesitant as the uncertain U.S. election outcome continued to cloud the market's outlook.
If the global stock benchmark ends the session in negative territory, its eight-day losing streak would be the longest stretch since October 2008.
Friday’s employment report for October was another cause for caution though a reaction to expectations for the creation of 175,000 nonfarm payrolls and a drop in the jobless rate to 4.9%, from the prior 5.0% may be muted with the data sandwiched between America’s decision on its future leader and Wednesday’s announcement by the Federal Reserve that it could hike rates in December.
Macro data released on Thursday did little to boost sentiment with service sector activity falling more than expected in October and the labor market experiencing an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims.
New orders for U.S. factory goods rose for a third straight month in September, but a further decline in order books suggested the manufacturing sector will struggle to emerge from a prolonged slump.
In earnings news, the fact that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) tumbled 5% weighed on the Nasdaq as the world's largest online social media network warned that revenue growth would slow this quarter, offsetting strong earnings that handily beat Wall Street estimates.
In another huge market move, wearable fitness device maker Fitbit (NYSE:FIT) saw shares sink 30% after revenue forecast for the key-holiday shopping quarter fell well below of analysts' estimates, hurt by soft demand and production issues related to its new Flex 2 wristband.
Still, the third quarter earnings season was showing growth though analysts at The Earnings Scout admitted it was more lackluster this week. That said, they noted that of the 104 S&P firms reporting so far this week, 66% beat on earnings-per-share though only 42% managed to top sales expectations.
Meanwhile, investors continued to undo positions in black gold on Thursday following a 3% slump a day earlier on the back of a record build in U.S. crude inventories.
U.S. crude futures tumbled 1.28% to $44.76 by 11:17AM ET (15:17GMT), while Brent oil traded down 0.98% to $46.40.
In currency markets, the pound surged against the dollar as the Bank of England stood pat on interest rates and governor Mark Carney confirmed that the British monetary authority had shifted its stance from expecting another cut this year to a neutral policy that could move in either direction.