S&P 500 closes slightly lower as traders brace for Friday's big jobs report: Live updates

U.S. stocks ended Thursday down slightly.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 9.98 points, or 0.03%, to close at 33,119.57. The S&P 500 dipped 0.13% at 4,258.19, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.12% at 13,219.83.

— Hakyung Kim

The Federal Reserve's interest rate hiking campaign should be over, University of Pennsylvania professor Jeremy Siegel said Thursday.

"There should be no question now that the Fed should be done," Siegel said on CNBC's "Closing Bell."

He pointed to uncertainties around the potential government shutdown and autoworker strike. Still, he said the real economy is still "going like fire."

Siegel added that the market could get a boost after it becomes confident that the central bank is done raising rates.

— Alex Harring

Yields may tick up even higher after Friday's job reports, according to Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group. However, he believes that the dramatic rise in Treasury yields may have limited room for much more of an increase.

Payrolls and jobless claims data from earlier this week "showed like the the labor market is so strong and probably so tight. I think that pushed yields out a lot. We do think there's it's probably overextended at this point," Varghese said.

"We're at peak optimism with respect to the economy, and that's being projected forward. But for now, we do think from now, the data may soften a little bit," he added.

— Hakyung Kim

Natural gas futures jumped 7.3% on Thursday after data from the Energy Information Administration showed domestic gas inventories ended last week above the five-year average for this time of the year.

Federal data released on Wednesday also showed that the U.S. exported more natural gas in the first half of 2023 than it did during the same period of any previous year. Natural gas exports came out to an average of 20.4 billion cubic feet per day.

— Pia Singh

Barclays is bracing for Meta Platform's new AI agents to have a sizeable impact on the technology behemoth's financials.

"Most importantly, if these AI agents serve as a new interaction layer where users increasingly access information and transactions via the four mega-apps (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Facebook) across 3B+ DAPs, META shares would likely rerate higher," said analyst Ross Sandler in a Wednesday note.

Last week, the social media giant announced a slew of new artificial intelligence tools and digital assistants endorsed by celebrities like Paris Hilton and Kendall Jenner.

According to Sandler's projection, Meta could hit more than 800 million AI users by 2024 and could lift 2024 core advertising revenues by $16 billion due to better targeting costs per 1,000 impressions, viewing the new product as a sign of the potential next major consumer AI adoption wave.

— Samantha Subin

One of the market's biggest junk bond funds saw historic trading volume on Wednesday.

Shares of the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) changed hands nearly 139 million times in yesterday's session. On a value basis, the trading amounts to more than $10 billion. That is the most heavily traded day on record for the fund, which launched in 2007.

The fund rose about 0.5% during that session.

Volumes have been more subdued on Thursday, sitting at roughly 47 million on Thursday afternoon.

— Jesse Pound

Energy is this week's biggest loser, followed by the beaten-down utilities sector. Both sectors are down 5.9% and 4%, respectively.

Dragging down energy are major oil and gas companies such as Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66 and Devon Energy.

AES Corp and NextEra Energy are leading the losses in utilities, which is heading for its worst year since 2008. The stocks are down 15.8% and 13.9% this week, respectively. Rising bond yields are battering these stocks, which investors often turn to for their stability and strong dividend yields.

Communication services and information technology are the two sectors in the green this week, up 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively. These sectors have been boosted by gains from major tech companies Alphabet and Meta, semiconductor giants Nvidia and Micron and cloud names Oracle and Arista Networks.

— Pia Singh

The S&P 500 is off to a poor start in October as it heads for its fifth consecutive week of losses. The broader index is off by 0.7% this week.

By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off by 1.2% this week, while the Nasdaq Composite is flat.

— Sarah Min

UBS says a slew of data related to wait time trends in China could suggest demand for the latest iPhone could be soft in that market.

"At the high-end of the market, wait times for both the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max continue to suggest incremental demand softness," analyst David Vogt said in a Thursday note.

Vogt said the wait time for the iPhone 15 Pro in China currently stands at 19 days, down from 32 days for the iPhone 14 Pro last year.

"Last year, the wait time for the 14 Pro did not fall below 3 weeks until a full month (34 days) post launch partially due to supply constraints," he added. "However, two years ago, it took over 2 months (65 days) for wait times to decline to 3 weeks for the 13 Pro."

— Brian Evans

Shares of electric truck maker Rivian fell more than 21% on Thursday after the company announced a plan to sell $1.5 billion of convertible notes.

In a release accompanying the bond sale announcement late Wednesday, Rivian said it expected revenue to be between $1.29 billion and $1.33 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That is more than double its revenue from the same quarter last year, but is a slowdown from the quarter-over-quarter growth seen earlier in 2023.

The automaker also said that the cash and cash-like assets on its balance sheet decreased to $9.1 billion from $10.2 billion over the prior three months.

— Jesse Pound

Retail investors have added exposure during what has been a difficult time in the market.

Everyday investors added $1.3 billion in cash equities over the last week, particularly buying into ETFs, according to JPMorgan.

But they pulled back on single stock exposure. Tesla saw the highest outflows, losing $665 million in retail investor dollars over the last week.

Other Big Technology stocks fared better. Amazon saw $204 million in net inflows in the last week, while Microsoft and Nvidia each saw around $180 million.

— Alex Harring

These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:

Rivian Automotive — Rivian Automotive shares tanked 19% after the electric vehicle maker announced plans to raise $1.5 billion in convertible notes and offered preliminary third-quarter revenue guidance roughly in line with Wall Street's expectations.

Orchard Therapeutics — Shares nearly doubled after Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin announced plans to acquire the biotechnology firm, which specializes in gene therapy, for $478 million.

Lamb Weston — Lamb Weston shares jumped 10%. On Thursday, the French fry producer, which supplies McDonald's, beat analysts' expectations in its latest quarter on the top and bottom lines. It also raised its fiscal year guidance.

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Brandes Investment Partners is the latest firm to join the growing ETF market, launching three funds on Thursday.

The new products include an international ETF (BINV) and two U.S. value funds (BSMC, BUSA). The new funds are similar to existing strategies offered by Brandes. For example, the firm's international equity mutual fund (BIIEX) has a four-star rating from Morningstar.

The funds are also notable because they are the first to come out of Goldman Sachs ETF Accelerator. The new group was created last year to help Goldman's large clients quickly bring their strategies and ideas to the ETF market.

"Our clients want to sell strategies. They don't want to sell wrappers. They need to have all the wrappers, but they want to be talking to clients about who they are, what their unique value proposition is and how they're delivering alpha," Lisa Mantil, the global head of Goldman Sachs ETF Accelerator, told CNBC.

Goldman is serving as a tech platform on these funds and is not involved in investment decisions. The ETF Accelerator is also named in the prospectus for the first ETF from Jeremy Grantham's GMO, which was filed in August and has not launched yet.

— Jesse Pound

Investors are closely watching as the S&P 500 nears a level that's important for a handful of technical reasons.

"The S&P is at a confluence of support," said John Kolovos, chief technical strategist at Macro Risk Advisors. "It's a defining moment for the index."

CNBC Pro subscribers can see what that level is and why it matters by clicking here.

— Alex Harring

The Nasdaq fell 1% on Thursday as technology stocks took a tumble.

Lucid Group was the worst performer in the concentrated Nasdaq-100, dropping about 9% after launching a cheaper iteration of its Air electric luxury sedan. Align Technology and Airbnb shed more than 4% each.

Other underperformers included Enphase Energy, Zscaler and On Semiconductor, last down at least 3%. Advanced Micro Devices, Netflix and Amazon slipped more than 2%. Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms traded 1% lower.

— Samantha Subin

RBC Capital Markets initiated Johnson & Johnson with an outperform rating on Thursday, and assigned a price target which suggests shares can climb more than 14% from Wednesday's close. 

The company's spinoff earlier this year of its consumer health business Kenvue has "unlocked potential" for Johnson & Johnson going forward, analyst Shagun Singh said. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more on the firm's outlook here.

— Pia Singh

Consumer staples stocks lagged on Thursday, dragging down the S&P 500 sector 1.4%.

Clorox was the biggest underperformer, shedding 8.7%. The bleach and cleanings products maker warned that a cyberattack hit its sales and profit during the recent quarter. PepsiCo and Mondelez International dropped more than 3% each, while Molson Coors, Coca-Cola, and McCormick edged down 2%.

Constellation Brands slipped 2% even after reporting strong earnings and lifting its fiscal 2024 outlook. The company's wine and spirits products underperformed from a year ago.

— Samantha Subin

A higher-for-longer rate environment could signal a rough patch ahead for the housing market, according to Bank of America.

"No crash in sight, but potential turbulence ahead," wrote economist Jeseo Park in a Thursday note to clients.

Read more on what's worrying the Wall Street firm here.

— Samantha Subin

Citi thinks O'Reilly Automotive will buck the broader weakness in the retail market.

The bank upgraded the auto parts retailer to buy from neutral and raised its price target.

"We think the recent pullback in the shares presents an attractive buying opportunity for the stable, defensive retail stock," analyst Steven Zaccone wrote in a Thursday note. "Our target multiple is also at a slight premium to the market share leaders retail basket given the recession-resistant aspect of ORLY's business and consistent margin execution."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Pia Singh

Energy stocks have recently gone through a "gut check" and "a quick 10% flush" but are simply undergoing a correction within a strong underlying trend, Chris Verrone, head of technical and macro research at Strategas Securities, wrote to clients Thursday. "Short-term momentum is flushed and crude [oil] is into some support in the low-$80s – we'd expect relief soon. The more troubling chart is likely the gasoline futures, which have broken down," Verrone said.

That's good news for consumers and drivers, though. After falling to the $2.30 a gallon area on Wednesday, November RBOB gasoline futures took another leg down Thursday, sliding to $2.1789 — the lowest since late December, 2022.

Separately, Strategas cast doubt on Wednesday's bounceback in stocks, noting that the Volatility Index remains below 20, many bank stocks are near their March lows (when Silicon Valey Bank collapsed) and only about 60% of large-cap tech stocks and 35% of small-cap tech issues are above their 200-day moving averages.

— Scott Schnipper, Michael Bloom, Gina Francolla

JPMorgan thinks it's time to buy shares of North Carolina-based regional bank Live Oak Bancshares.

Analyst Steven Alexopoulos upgraded the stock to overweight from neutral and maintained his price target.

"The recent sell-off provides us with the entry point that we were waiting for," Alexopoulos said in a Thursday note. "While LOB shares have underperformed over the past month in response to a rising 10-year yield, not only do we see a rising 10-year yield as providing a tailwind to the bank sector and LOB, but what's more is that for LOB specifically, we see several near-term catalysts lined up."

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about those catalysts here.

— Pia Singh

Evercore ISI is bullish Nvidia, the best-performing S&P 500 stock this year, as the latest earnings season approaches.

"NVIDIA remains our top pick overall, positioned well into earnings season based on sustainability of AI spend and beat/raise on the come," analyst Matthew Prisco said in a Thursday note.

The firm maintained its outperform rating and $600 price target. Shares were down 0.2% Thursday morning.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Pia Singh

U.S. stocks opened little changed Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 27 points, or 0.08%.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.03% and 0.07%, respectively.

— Hakyung Kim

Gold reached a low not seen since March on Thursday.

Prices fell to as low as $1,826.20. The metal last traded at a lower point on March 9, when it hit $1,815.40.

Gold has fallen about 2% so far this week, putting it on pace to post its third straight losing week.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

Crude oil prices are on pace to see their biggest weekly losses since March.

Brent crude futures have fallen about 10.4% week to date, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 7.6%. If that performance continues through Friday, it would mark the worst weeks for both since the week ending March 17. Brent lost 11.9% that week, while WTI dropped 13%.

Both were down by about 0.8% Thursday morning.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

The latest initial jobless claims roughly matched economist expectations. The Labor Department said claims came in at 207,000, slightly below a Dow Jones estimate of 210,000.

To be sure, that's an increase of 2,000 claims from the week before.

— Fred Imbert

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading.

Rivian — Shares of the electric vehicle maker plunged 8.7% after Rivian announced a $1.5 billion convertible bond sale and issued disappointing guidance for the third quarter. The company said it expects between $1.29 billion and $1.31 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by StreetAccount forecast $1.31 billion. Rivian also reported its cash and short-term investments lessened between the end of the second and third quarter.

Energy stocks — Shares of oil firms Occidental Petroleum, Chevron and ExxonMobil were all lower in premarket trading, as crude prices added to Wednesday's steep declines. Occidental ticked down 0.4%, while Chevron and ExxonMobil both pulled back around 1%.

Clorox — Shares slipped 4.4% in premarket trading Thursday, a day after the product maker offered weaker guidance for the fiscal first quarter than analysts expected. The company also said a cyberattack outweighed benefits from pricing, cost saving and supply chain improvements. Raymond James downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform following the guidance.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

The sharp decline for oil prices that has brought down West Texas Intermediate futures down by more than $10 per barrel could cause a reaction from oil producing countries, according to Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets

"I think OPEC is a different OPEC than in 2015. ... I would anticipate, if we continue to see selling pressure over the next few days, if this looks like it is going to be a sharp sell-off potentially plunging into the 70s, I think we'll at least start to hear very clear statements from OPEC about potentially coming back in," Croft said on "Squawk Box."

"I think that this market remains stronger than this selling action would have us believe at the moment," Croft added.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1.7% in morning trading at $82.78 per barrel.

— Jesse Pound

Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge noted that Wednesday's strong performance "rally wasn't nearly enough to repair US equity confidence with chastened investors still on the sidelines licking their wounds."

"Although in terms of having a sustainable rally, it's better than the futures aren't surging this morning – large market advances are born out of despair and pain, and there's still a lot of that around," he added.

— Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom

Hong Kong's private sector contracted for the third consecutive month in September, according to PMI data from S&P Global.

The S&P Global Hong Kong SAR Purchasing Manager's Index fell to 49.6 in September from 49.8 in August, partly hit by Typhoon Saola early last month.

The reading also showed price pressures eased in September, while employment rose.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

The pandemic-era pause on federal student loan payments is over, and borrowers are already dialing back their expenses.

KeyBanc Capital Markets polled more than 1,000 domestic consumers last month and found that nearly 7 in 10 expect to slash spending now that loan payments have made a comeback. The weighted average monthly payment among KeyBanc's survey participants was $267.

The most cited categories for expected spending cuts are clothing, restaurants and travel.

However, some expenses are near and dear to consumers: Beauty and cosmetics, as well as footwear and consumer electronics are among the lower-ranked categories for spending cuts, KeyBanc found.

The findings seem to bode well for stocks like big-box retailer Walmart and discount shop FiveBelow – but also the likes of Lululemon and sneaker manufacturer On Holding. "Middle- and high-income cohorts indicated strong purchase intent for athleticwear," KeyBanc noted.

-Darla Mercado, Michael Bloom

Futures for West Texas Intermediate crude fell 5.61% to settle at $84.22 a barrel on Wednesday. This marked its worst daily performance since September 23, 2022, when it fell 5.69%.

The losses within the energy sector were led by Devon Energy, which fell 5.25% during the day's trading session. Marathon Oil and Schlumberger also slid over 4%.

— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes

Clorox stock ticked 2.8% lower in after-market trading hours, after the company posted weaker-than-expected guidance for its fiscal first quarter.

Citing an August cybersecurity attack that widely disrupted operations, the consumer goods company now expects an adjusted loss ranging from 40 cents to zero cents per share and lower than the $1.29 per share in earnings expected by analysts polled by FactSet. The company now expects gross margin to also fall from a year ago, whereas it previously forecasted an increase.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Futures for the major averages opened lower on Wednesday.

S&P 500-linked futures slipped 0.2%, as did Nasdaq 100 futures. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 65 points, or 0.2%.

— Darla Mercado