Markets Settle Mixed on Big Day for Data

Market Performance - The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 466 points, or 0.94%, closing below 49,000 after reaching a new high the previous day [1] - The S&P 500 decreased by 0.34%, while the Nasdaq experienced a slight increase of 0.16% [1] - The Russell 2000, representing small-cap stocks, declined by 7 points, or 0.30% [1] Company Developments - Alphabet (GOOGL) has become the second-largest company globally by market capitalization, surpassing Apple (AAPL) due to positive analyst sentiment regarding its potential as a leading AI platform [2] - Alphabet still trails NVIDIA (NVDA) by several hundred billion dollars in market cap [2] Employment Data - The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for November reported 7.15 million job openings, significantly below the expected 7.6 million and marking the lowest level since September 2025 [3] - The Accommodations and Food Services sector saw the largest decline in job openings, losing 148,000 positions, while the Construction sector was the only one to gain openings, adding 90,000 [4] - Job quits increased by 2% from a revised 1.9% in October, indicating a tight labor market where employees are hesitant to change jobs [5] Economic Indicators - The ISM Services index for December rose to 54.4%, exceeding expectations of 52.2%, while the ISM Manufacturing index was weaker at 47.9% [6] - Factory Orders for October decreased by 1.3%, worse than the anticipated decline of 1.2%, indicating ongoing challenges in the goods-producing sector [7] Upcoming Economic Reports - Expectations for the upcoming U.S. Employment Report for December include the addition of 73,000 jobs and a slight decrease in the unemployment rate to 4.5% [11] - Weekly Jobless Claims are expected to exceed 200,000, along with U.S. Trade Deficit and U.S. Productivity data for Q3 being released [10]