Nasdaq – Tech leading the surge, jobless claims steady but weaknesses appearing

• Tech boosted by Google announcement
• Continuing jobless claims continue to rise
• Nasdaq nearing all-time highs

It’s been an interesting day in financial markets with US stocks performing well, particularly the Nasdaq, and Europe rather poorly.

Tech is the difference maker, with Alphabet leading the charge after Google announced the release of its new AI model “Gemini”. More broadly though, I do think there’s still some apprehension ahead of some huge economic readings from the world’s largest economy.

The jobs report tomorrow is really significant, particularly the wages component after three consecutive reports of 0.2% monthly growth. A fourth reading would suggest wage growth has returned to levels much more consistent with 2% inflation and may be enough, despite the still tight labor market, to convince policymakers that the next move will be a cut early next year.

The jobless claims release today wasn’t particularly eventful in itself but what is interesting is that despite initial claims remaining very low, continuing are rising. In other words, we’re not seeing a dramatic rise in layoffs but those that are seemingly find it difficult to get a new job. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues or eventually spills into higher layoffs as economic challenges deepen.

New record highs in sight?

Despite pushing higher today, the Nasdaq continues to trade around recent highs following a few weeks of consolidation.

NAS100 Daily

Source – OANDA on Trading View

That’s only around 5% from the all-time highs so the coming data and Fed meeting may determine whether the Nasdaq makes a new record before the end of the year.

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