Dow Jones Industrial Average cools off as record rally takes a pause

The Dow Jones eased down around 200 points on Tuesday.

Despite an upbeat JOLTS print, equities have eased off their recent rally.

A packed data docket awaits investors in the runup to Friday’s NFP.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) pared back recent gains again on Tuesday, declining 200 points despite a better-than-expected print in JOLTS Job Openings in October. ADP Employment Change labor preview figures are due on Wednesday, followed by another round of Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) net jobs additions on Friday.

JOLTS Job Openings rose to 7.744 million job vacancies in October, climbing slightly from September’s revised 7.372 million and beating the expected 7.48 million. A tight US labor market has squeezed JOLTS figures into the low side, declining steadily from multi-year highs of around 12 million set in June of 2022.

ADP Employment Change numbers for November are slated for Wednesday and are expected to decline to 150K from the previous month’s 233K. Friday’s NFP net job additions are expected to rebound to 200K in November after October’s 12K print on the back of temporary job losses attributed to hurricanes, among other things. The US Unemployment Rate is also expected to tick higher to 4.2% from 4.1% on Friday.

South Korea’s conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol declared “emergency martial law” early Tuesday in a surprise move that rattled equities with exposure to South Korean markets. South Korea’s President accused the country’s opposition Democratic Party of sympathizing with North Korea and undermining South Korea’s parliament with anti-state activities.