Stocks Slide on Signs of a Cooling Labor Market

3 weeks ago 13

Rich Asplund

Thu, November 6, 2025 astatine 3:32 PM CST 8 min read

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) connected Thursday closed down -1.12%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI) (DIA) closed down -0.84%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) closed down -1.91%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ25) fell -1.07%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ25) fell -1.86%.

US banal indexes retreated connected Thursday, with the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrials, and the Nasdaq 100 falling to 2-week lows. Strong grounds of a cooling US labour marketplace sparked risk-off sentiment and undercut stocks aft Thursday's study from outplacement steadfast Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that US companies announced the astir occupation cuts successful immoderate October successful much than 20 years. Also, weakness successful semiconductor stocks connected Thursday weighed connected the broader market.

However, a diminution successful enslaved yields connected Thursday constricted the downside successful stocks. The 10-year T-note output fell -7 bp to 4.09% successful hopes the Fed volition proceed to chopped involvement rates aft Thursday's anemic labour study from Challenger. Also, beardown firm net results are supportive of stocks, with 81% of S&P 500 companies reporting Q3 net beating expectations.

US Oct Challenger occupation cuts surged +175.3% y/y to 153,074, the largest summation successful 7 months and the astir for an October successful 22 years. Year-to-date occupation cuts person exceeded 1 million, the astir since the pandemic, and US employers person announced the fewest hiring plans since 2011.

Hawkish Fed comments connected Thursday were antagonistic for stocks. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said that a deficiency of ostentation information during the authorities shutdown makes him much uneasy astir the Fed's ongoing involvement complaint cuts. Also, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said, "I stay acrophobic astir precocious ostentation and judge monetary argumentation should beryllium leaning against it. This argues for a mildly restrictive stance for our argumentation complaint to guarantee that ostentation returns to 2% successful a timely fashion."

The markets are discounting a 69% accidental of different -25 bp complaint chopped astatine the adjacent FOMC gathering connected December 9-10.