Stock market news today: Tech lags as Apple falls for 4th straight day ahead of Dec. jobs data

The stock market's slide to kick off 2024 continued on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed just above the flatline, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.3%. After a Wednesday sell-off, the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) pushed for gains at points in the session, but fell nearly 0.6% below the flatline by the close.

Meanwhile, tech stalwart Apple (AAPL) stock stumbled for a fourth-straight day as Wall Street's highlighted concerns about weakening iPhone demand. The big tech giant is now down almost 6% in the last five days.

QuantumScape Corporation (QS) led the Yahoo Finance trending tickers page on Thursday. Shares of the Volkswagen's battery subsidiary soared almost 50% after its solid-state cell passed its first endurance test.

Mobileye Global (MBLY) stock dropped roughly 25% after the chipmaker announced it expects first quarter revenue to be down abut 50%. The stock had rallied nearly 30% over the last two months prior to the release.

Walgreens (WBA) stock fell about 6% after reporting quarterly results. The company announced its cutting its dividend by 48% to $0.25 a share from $0.48 a share.

Peloton (PTON) stock soared more than 15% on Thursday after an announcement that it will be launching a partnership with TikTok that will feature short-form fitness videos and other content.

Travel stocks were trading higher on Thursday as oil prices fell, signaling lower fuel costs for cruise line and airline operators.

American Airlines (AAL), Delta (DAL), and United (UAL) all rose more than 1%. Cruise line operators Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival (CCL) surged more than 2%.

Oil futures fell more than 2% earlier in the session amid higher-than-expected builds of US gasoline and distillate fuels.

Meanwhile, energy-related stocks were under pressure on Thursday. The S&P 500 Energy Select ETF (XLE) was the worst-performing sector, down more than 1%.

The December jobs report is set for release Friday morning and is expected to show further signs of a cooling labor market to finish 2023.

The monthly labor report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose by 175,000 in December while the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.8% from the previous month, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg. In November, the US economy added 199,000 jobs while unemployment unexpectedly fell to 3.7%.

Here are the key numbers Wall Street will be looking at, according to data from Bloomberg:

• Nonfarm payrolls: +175,000 vs. +199,000 previously

• Unemployment rate: 3.8% vs. 3.7% previously

• Average hourly earnings, month-on-month: +0.3% vs. +0.4% previously

• Average hourly earnings, year-on-year: +3.9% vs. +4.0% previously

• Average weekly hours worked: 34.4 vs. 34.4 previously

Once again, the report will be a crucial test for the stock market's end-of-year rally. Investors have largely attributed the move that pushed stocks near all-time highs to a shift in sentiment as many now believe the Federal Reserve can achieve a so-called soft landing, where inflation retreats to 2% without a complete downturn in economic growth.

"We expect the December employment report to show slower job growth and a further moderation in nominal wage growth, both something the Federal Reserve wants to see as it attempts to engineer a soft-landing," Oxford Economics lead US economist Nancy Vanden Houten wrote in note on Thursday.

Oil prices reversed course on Thursday after weekly US gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles pointed to lower demand.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) sank more than 2% before paring most of those losses following the release of US crude inventory data. Brent (BZ=F) also sank into negative territory, losing its earlier gains.

Gasoline stockpiles rose by 10.9 million barrels, their highest week-over-week increase in more than three decades, according to Energy Information Administration data.

Crude inventories fell by 5.5 million barrels for the week ending Dec. 29, but the bigger-than-expected draw may reflect supplies from the US making up for shipment interruptions stemming from Red Sea tensions.

Oil futures were up more than 1% earlier in the session, extending their gains from Wednesday amid concerns of supply interruptions in Libya.

A precipitous fall in mortgage rates has stalled to start 2024.

Yahoo Finance's Rebeca Chen reports:

The average rates for 30-year loans inched up to 6.62% from 6.61% a week ago, according to tracking by Freddie Mac on Thursday. Aside from this week's minuscule rise, rates have been declining for weeks since late October, falling nearly 117 basis points from a 12-month high of 7.79% at the end of October.

Those recent declines have boosted homebuyers' ability to purchase homes, but further affordability improvement could be curbed by a continual supply shortage, especially if lower rates bring back sidelined demand.

"While mortgage interest rates are expected to overall decline in 2024, minor fluctuations in weekly mortgage interest rates are to be expected," Jessica Lautz,the National Association of Realtors’ deputy chief economist, wrote to Yahoo Finance.

"The biggest demand is likely to come from those who had been priced out of the homebuying market. For spring, there will likely be competition among the steady share of all-cash homebuyers and first-time buyers trying to edge in," Lautz added.

Stocks are off to a rough start in 2024.

The famed Santa Claus Rally didn't come. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) had its fourth-worst first day of a new year ever. And the Russell 2000 (^RUT), a darling of the recent market rally, just had its third-worst two-day start to a year ever.

"It's fair to say that financial markets have started 2024 with something of a mild hangover," Capital Economics deputy chief markets economist Jonas Goltermann wrote in a research note Wednesday.

But some on Wall Street think the current drivers of the market have been macro-focused. When that sentiment shifts to focus on earnings, the rally can continue.

Recent data from FactSet shows analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report earnings growth of 11.7% for the full year, which would be above the 10-year average annual earnings growth rate of 8.4%.

That earnings backdrop is one of the main drivers behind Bank of America seeing nearly 10% growth for the S&P 500 from current levels, per BofA equity strategist Ohsung Kwon.

"Earnings season, starting next week, is going to be key to the market," Kwon said.

With companies officially exiting the earnings recession in the third quarter, Kwon believes that momentum continuing is crucial to the bullish thesis.

"Companies have cut costs throughout the earnings recession," Kwon said. "They have managed margins. Margins went up for the second straight quarter. So I think the momentum is to the upside and if companies talk more positively this earnings season, given that the rate pressure and the macro uncertainty has eased somewhat. Now, that's going to be bullish for equities."

US stocks stalled on Thursday, struggling to shake off a dismal start to the year after Federal Reserve policymakers left hopes for an early interest-rate cut hanging.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) popped about 0.2%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down about 0.1%. Tech stocks signaled a return to their Wednesday sell-off, as the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped about 0.4%.

Multiple data points released Thursday morning showed the labor market remains intact while wages continue to cool, a welcome sign in the fight against inflation.

The latest ADP employment report showed private companies added 164,000 jobs in the month of December, above November's reading of 103,000 and higher than analyst expectations for 115,000 additions.

Also within the release, ADP revealed annual wage growth fell to 5.4% from 5.6% the month prior.

"We're returning to a labor market that's very much aligned with pre-pandemic hiring," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. "While wages didn't drive the recent bout of inflation, now that pay growth has retreated, any risk of a wage-price spiral has all but disappeared."

Elsewhere, data from the Department of Labor shows 202,000 jobless claims were filed last week, below economist estimates for 216,000. Jobless claims are an area several economists have told Yahoo Finance they're monitoring for signs of a slowdown, as an uptick in claims would mean more people are being laid off from their jobs.

The big labor data update for the week still awaits investors as the December jobs report is expected for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday.

Apple (AAPL) was hit with its second downgrade in the four days of 2024, this time from Piper Sandler.

The reason for the downgrade from analyst Harsh Kumar was similar to the one from peers at Barclays earlier this week: iPhone demand, especially in an expectedly weak Chinese market.

Apple's stock has already been hit this year, and it was down more than 1% in premarket trading on Thursday:

Piper Sandler's downgrade to Neutral from Overweight was perhaps less jarring than that of Barclays, which cut its rating to Underweight on Tuesday. Apple's stock responded with its biggest percentage drop since September.

According to Bloomberg, the percentage of analysts with a bullish rating on the stock is at a three-year low.