Stock Market Update

The stock market is on track for a higher opening, with large-tech names poised to recoup some of yesterday's losses. 

Price action will be a point of focus in today's session, as it is the first full session following yesterday's FOMC meeting, which brought forth the expected 25-basis point rate cut and updated projections for further easing. 

Initial jobless claims for the week ending September 13 decreased by 33,000 to 231,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 245,000) following an upwardly revised 264,000 (from 263,000) in the prior week. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending September 6 decreased by 7,000 to 1.920 million.

The key takeaway from the report is that initial claims settled back from what appeared to be an aberrantly high level in the prior week, returning to an area that is more consistent with a job market where layoff activity is relatively low.

Separately, the Philadelphia Fed Index surged to 23.2 for September (Briefing.com consensus: 3.0) from -0.3 in August, with the new orders index climbing to 12.4 from -1.9 and the prices paid index dropping to 46.8 from 66.8. The dividing line between expansion and contraction for this report is 0.0, so the September reading represents an acceleration in manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia Fed region.

The key takeaway from the report is found in the welcome combination of stronger growth and fading prices.