Good Evening. After a stunning two-day rally faltered yesterday, U.S. stocks fell again today.
The S&P 500 closed 1.02% lower as losses escalated into the closing bell, while the Dow Jones fell 1.15%. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 0.68%.
REVENUE SHORTFALL
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s (AMD) preliminary third-quarter revenues fell short of estimates by more than $1 billion, adding to fears about the faltering market for personal computer chips and causing its shares to decline in late trading.
- Revenue: $5.6 Billion Expected vs. $6.7 Billion estimated
Why is all this happening? AMD, like its competitors, blamed the PC industry for sales declines, citing decreased demand and an inventory buildup in the supply chain. According to the corporation, the third quarter would also include $160 million in write-downs related to inventories, pricing, and other concerns.
While AMD has been gaining market share at the expense of Intel, the firm is not immune to the decline in PC demand. As a result of recession fears and inflation, consumers who splurged on technology during pandemic lockdowns are now cutting back on large-ticket electronics purchases.
SNEAK PEAK INTO THE JOBS REPORT
As a succession of hefty interest rate hikes walloped the U.S. economy in September, job growth undoubtedly slowed, but a lower non-farm payroll gain is unlikely to stop policymakers from taking robust monetary action to combat inflation that remains at a decades-high.
Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, the Labor Department will issue its latest monthly jobs report. According to Bloomberg data, the following are Wall Street’s predictions for the report:
Non-farm payrolls: +260,000 expected vs. +315,000 (August 2022)
Unemployment rate: 3.7% expected vs. 3.7% (August 2022)
Average hourly earnings, MoM: +0.3% expected vs. +0.3% (August 2022)
Average hourly earnings, YoY: +5.0% expected vs. +5.2% (August 2022)
What would all of this mean? The expected increase in payroll would represent the lowest monthly increase since December 2020. Any moderation in September employment figures would be seen favorably by Federal Reserve policymakers attempting to rein in an extremely tight labor market that has pushed up wages and contributed to surging prices.