Stock Market Update

The stock market is on track for a mostly lower opening this morning as Oracle (ORCL 193.42, -29.49, -13.3%) continues to slide following a miss on revenues, prompting concerns around the state of the AI trade and dragging mega-cap and tech names lower. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both down around 0.5% below fair value, which is a significant improvement from earlier levels. 

The September trade deficit narrowed to $52.8 billion (Briefing.com consensus: -$61.7 billion) from an upwardly revised $59.3 billion (from -$59.6 billion) in August.

The key takeaway from the report is that the narrower deficit was the byproduct of exports being $8.4 billion more than August exports and imports being $1.9 billion more than August imports.

Initial jobless claims for the week ending December 6 increased by 44,000 to 236,000. Poor seasonal adjustment factors have attracted blame for the big week-over-week jump in initial claims from the Thanksgiving week. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending November 29 decreased by 99,000 to 1.838 million, which is the lowest since April 2025.

The key takeaway from the report is that, on balance, it doesn't point to a material weakening in the labor market.