Stock market today: Dow up as dip buyers shrug off fed fears amid strong jobs data

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The Dow ended higher Friday, cutting losses on dip-buying momentum in the close after shrugging off a red-hot jobs report that could encourage the Federal Reserve to keep rates higher for longer.  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.10%, or 34 points, the Nasdaq fell 0.19%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.1%.

The U.S. economy racked up 263,000 job gains in November, well above the 200,000 economists had forecast, but worryingly for the Fed average hourly wages rose by a much more than expected 0.6%, keeping elevated inflation fears front and center.

“This morning’s stronger-than-expected headline rise in employment coupled with a larger-than-expected gain in wage pressures reinforces the need for the Fed to remain focused on taming inflation,” Stifel said in a note.

Treasury yields lost some steam but remained in the ascendency as investors renewed bets on the Fed’s peak level of interest rates, or the terminal rate, rising above 5% next year.

Technology stocks were back in the firing line amid expectations for higher for longer rates, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) falling 0.3% to lead big tech to the downside.

Chipmaker Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) closed in the red, but well off session lows despite delivering softer guidance and weaker-than-expected third-quarter results.

The weaker fiscal fourth-quarter guidance ahead comes as the chipmaker works its way through overloaded inventory, a process likely to continue into next year.

“We believe MRVL is undershipping end demand in F4Q…to aggressively lower customer/channel inventory, a process that is likely to continue into F1Q,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.

Energy stocks were dragged lower by a slip in oil prices ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+.

Pointing to OPEC+’s decision to opt for a virtual meeting rather than an in-person meeting, RBC said the group’s decision to opt for “no-drama optics seemingly increases the likelihood of a rollover decision.”

EQT (NYSE:EQT), Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) and Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) were among the biggest decliners in the energy sector.