Stock Market Today: Dow Wavers and Snap Plunges as Investors Watch

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The stock market was pausing near record highs Friday, as investors turned their attention to growth data at the end of an upbeat week of trading.

Futures for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average
indicated an open 5 points lower, after the index slipped 6 points Thursday to close at 35,603. Futures for the

S&P 500
indicated a similar start, after that index notched its seventh consecutive session of gains Thursday, closing at a new high and ending the longest stretch between record closes since November 2020. Futures for the

Nasdaq
showed the technology-heavy index set to open 0.4% lower.

Stocks rallied this week on the back of strong corporate earnings, helping investors shrugging off wider concerns that have weighed on markets in the past month—such as inflation, central bank stimulus, and supply-chain disruptions.

“Looking ahead, the main theme today will be the release of the flash [purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs)] from around the world, which will give us an initial indication of how various economies have fared through the start of Q4,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank. 

“Obviously one of the biggest themes has been supply-chain disruptions throughout the world, so it’ll be interesting to see how these surface, but the composite PMIs over recent months had already been indicating slowing growth momentum across the major economies,” Reid added.

Companies reporting financial results in the day ahead include

American Express

(AXP) and

Honeywell

(HON).

Bond yields remain elevated, boosted Thursday as the market took note that the labor market looked to be strengthening as positive jobs data showed initial jobless claims last week fell to their Covid-19 pandemic low. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down slightly from the six-month high of 1.7% reached in the last session, but was holding above 1.68%.

Elevated bond yields tend to put pressure on technology stocks in particular, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was set to underperform the wider U.S. market Friday.

Overseas, Hong Kong’s

Hang Seng Index
rose 0.4% and the pan-European

Stoxx 600
was 0.4% higher. 

Sentiment was buoyed by news that China Evergrande had avoided formal default by making a $83.5 million…