Stocks Slide on Sluggish US Economic News

Economic Indicators - Weekly initial unemployment claims in the US are expected to fall by 11,000 to 225,000 [1] - November CPI is projected to increase by 3.1% year-on-year, while core CPI is expected to rise by 3.0% year-on-year [1] - November existing home sales are anticipated to increase by 1.2% month-on-month to 4.15 million [1] - The University of Michigan's December consumer sentiment index is expected to be revised upward by 0.2 to 53.5 from the previously reported 53.3 [1] Labor Market - November nonfarm payrolls rose by 64,000, exceeding expectations of 50,000, while October nonfarm payrolls fell by 105,000, worse than the expected decline of 25,000 [3] - The unemployment rate in November increased by 0.1 to a four-year high of 4.6% [3] - November average hourly earnings rose by 0.1% month-on-month and 3.5% year-on-year, which is the smallest year-on-year increase in 4.5 years [2][4] Stock Market Performance - The S&P 500 Index fell by 0.32%, the Dow Jones by 0.293%, and the Nasdaq 100 by 0.14% [6] - Stocks are under pressure due to sluggish economic indicators, including a rise in the unemployment rate and stagnation in retail sales [5] - Energy producers are experiencing significant declines, with WTI crude oil falling over 3% to a 4.75-year low, impacting the broader market [5][14] International Markets - Overseas stock markets are also lower, with the Euro Stoxx 50 down by 0.68%, China's Shanghai Composite down by 1.11%, and Japan's Nikkei Stock 225 down by 1.56% [7] Interest Rates and Bonds - The 10-year T-note yield decreased by 0.8 basis points to 4.165%, influenced by the rise in unemployment and lower wage growth [8] - The 10-year breakeven inflation rate fell to a 1.5-week low of 2.240%, indicating falling inflation expectations [8] Company-Specific Movements - Pfizer Inc is down more than 4% after forecasting 2026 revenue below consensus estimates [16] - Humana is down more than 2% after its full-year adjusted EPS forecast fell short of expectations [16] - Archer-Daniels-Midland is down more than 2% following a downgrade by Morgan Stanley [17] - Cognex is up more than 5% after a double-upgrade by Goldman Sachs [17] - Ford Motor is up more than 1% after announcing a shift in production focus from electric to gas and hybrid vehicles [19]