US stocks remain sideways, waiting for signal from Fed

US stock markets were little changed in trading on December 4, as investors cautiously assessed a report on the labor market and other economic data.

Traders at the New York Stock Exchange, USA. Photo: THX/TTXVN

However, the market still received support from growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates next week.

With the November jobs report expected to be released after the Fed's December meeting due to the prolonged government shutdown, the market has turned to secondary indicators that provide mixed views of the labor market.

The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level in more than three years, but analysts said the decline could be partly due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, another report from the Chicago Fed estimated the unemployment rate in November remained at nearly 4.4%.

According to CME's FedWatch tool, the market is now pricing in an 87% chance the Fed will cut rates by 0.25 percentage points this month, up significantly from 68.6% a month ago.

Mike Dickson, head of quantitative research and strategy at Horizon Investments, said people are waiting for the Fed to react to the data. Despite recent comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that have been more dovish, the market is fully expecting rate cuts.

At the close of trading, the S&P 500 rose 7.20 points, or 0.11%, to 6,856.92, while the Nasdaq Composite added 54.78 points, or 0.23%, to 23,508.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32.48 points, or 0.07%, to 47,850.42.

Meta Platforms was one of the biggest contributors to the S&P 500's gains this session. The move came after Bloomberg reported that Facebook's parent company plans to cut its Metaverse budget by up to 30%.

Meanwhile, Amazon shares fell and became one of the biggest drags on the S&P 500 index. The reason came from the e-commerce giant's announcement that it was discussing future cooperation with the US Postal Service (USPS) and was considering options before the contract expires next year.

In the domestic market, at the end of the session on December 4, the VN-Index increased by 5.47 points (0.32%) to 1,737.24 points. The HNX-Index increased by 2.64 points (1.02%) to 262.31 points.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thi-truong-tien-te/chung-khoan-my-giu-nhip-di-ngang-cho-tin-hieu-tu-fed-20251205072405784.htm