The Dow Jones Industrials hung onto gains of 11.32 points to break for noon EST Thursday at 32,809.72.
The S&P 500 eked up 2.94 points to 3,994.95.
The NASDAQ Composite gained 20.75 points to 11,596.76.
The jobs report, he said, will serve as a reckoning for investors to reassess the economy and the Fed’s outlook short-term, adding that the market is currently in the process of repricing itself.
Bank stocks tumbled on Thursday, led to the downside by plummeting shares of regional bank names. That included SVB Financial, the worst-performing S&P stock. Silvergate shares plummeted 30% on news that it’s shutting down operations.
As of Thursday morning, traders were pricing in a roughly 75% chance of a 50-basis-point increase.
Investors received more news on the state of the labour market ahead of Friday’s closely watched nonfarm payrolls report. Jobless claims for the week ended March 4 rose more than expected, signaling that the labor market may be starting to slow. In retrospect, ADP’s payrolls report and JOLTs data on Wednesday suggested a resilient economy, heightening fears that the Fed needs more hiking to slow it.
Some economists, including those at Citi, expect a positive surprise to the upside come Friday’s payrolls data, following January’s blowout number. Strong jobs growth could mean bad news for the market, wrote strategist Alex Saunders in a Wednesday note to clients.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury climbed, lowering yields to 3.96% from Wednesday’s 3.98%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices lost nine cents to $76.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $13.80 to $1,836.80 U.S. an ounce.