Stocks close lower with monthly jobs data on deck, oil surges 5% on escalating Israel-Iran tensions
Stocks closed lower on Thursday as investors await Friday’s monthly jobs report for clues about the health of the labor market while keeping a watchful eye on the Middle East conflict after oil spiked during the session.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell almost 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped just below the flatline.
Energy (XLE) stocks moved higher as oil spiked over fears of supply disruptions stemming from an expected Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran. Remarks from President Biden over the possibility of an attack on Iran’s oil facilities helped push crude prices higher.
On Friday morning investors will get a fresh read on the state of the labor market with the release of the monthly jobs report. As Josh Schafer reports, the data is expected to serve as the latest piece of evidence that the labor market cooled off in 2024 but isn’t rapidly weakening at a pace that would prompt a larger interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve in November.