Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open As Traders Digest Jobs Data

After ending yesterday’s choppy session mostly lower, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by less than a tenth of a percent.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they attempt to discern the impact of the release of mixed U.S. jobs data.

While the Labor Department released a report this morning showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of November, the increase followed a notable loss of jobs in October.

The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 64,000 jobs in November after tumbling by 105,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected employment to rise by 50,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in November from 4.4 percent in September. The unemployment rate was expected to tick up to 4.5 percent.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. were roughly flat in the month of October.

The Commerce Department said retail sales were virtually unchanged in October after inching up by a downwardly revised 0.1 percent in September.

Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.2 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

However, excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent in October after edging up by 0.1 percent in September. Ex-auto sales were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

Stocks moved to the upside at the start of trading on Monday but quickly gave back ground early in the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and spent much of the rest of the day lingering near the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 137.76 points or 0.6 percent to 23,057.41, the S&P 500 dipped 10.90 points or 0.2 percent to 6,816.51 and the Dow edged down 41.49 points or 0.1 percent at 48,416.56.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower during trading on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.6 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are plunging $1.06 to $55.76 a barrel after tumbling $0.62 to $56.82 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after creeping up $6.90 to $4,335.20 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are inching up $1.10 to $4,336.30 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 154.80 yen compared to the 155.21 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1757 compared to yesterday’s $1.1752.

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