Stock Market Update

The S&P 500 futures are up 26 points and are trading 0.5% above fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 175 points and are trading 1.0% above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 54 points and are trading 0.1% below fair value.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending October 19 decreased by 15,000 to 227,000 (Briefing.com consensus 246,000). On an unadjusted basis, initial claims totaled 202,635, a decrease of 22,634 from the previous week. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending October 12 increased by 28,000 to 1.897 million.

The key takeaway from the report is that, while it might still contain some noise from the effects of the hurricanes, the initial claims data from both a seasonally adjusted and unadjusted basis connote a labor market that is still operating on solid ground that is a long way from recession-like territory.