Stock Market Today: Stocks edge higher after steady February jobs report

The S&P 500 is on pace for its worst week since September.

Mar 7, 2025 - 14:52

Stock Market Today: Stocks edge higher after steady February jobs report

U.S. equity futures moved cautiously higher in early Friday trading, while the dollar extended its steepest weekly decline of the year, as investors braced for a key reading of the labor market amid the ongoing confusion tied to President Donald Trump's tariff strategy.

Updated at 8:42 AM EST

Steady, for now

The U.S. economy added fewer-than-expected new jobs last month while revisions of prior tallies suggest renewed labor market weakness heading into the start of the year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 151,000 new jobs were created last month, missing Wall Street's 163,000 forecast and coming in notably lower than the downwardly-revised January reading of 125,000.

The headline unemployment rate edged higher, to 4.1%, while the labor force participation rate slipped 0.2 percentage points to 62.4%.

U.S. stock futures moved higher following the data release, with futures tied to the S&P 500 indicating a 15 point opening bell gain and the Nasdaq called 98 points higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last called 55 points higher.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields rose 1 basis point to 4.255% following the data release while rate-sensitive 2-year notes also rose 1 basis points to 3.944%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.61% lower at 103.571.

151,000 US jobs were added in February, the 50th consecutive month of jobs growth in the US. That's the 2nd longest streak in history.https://t.co/rQuXrxVpWs pic.twitter.com/vz00qz44gs— Charlie Bilello (@charliebilello) March 7, 2025

Updated at 8:04 AM EST

HPE-eek!

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares plunged in early trading after the server maker reported a disappointing profit and sales outlook and steep job cuts amid slowing demand.

HPE, the services-focused division spun out of the former Hewlett-Packard in 2015, forecast current-quarter revenue of between $7.2 billion and $7.6 billion, with earnings in the region of 30 cents a share, well shy of Wall Street's 50-cent estimate. The group is also slashing around 2,500 jobs, or 5% of its workforce, to cut costs.

HPE shares were last marked 19.7% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $14.42 each.

$HPE Guidance:

"We expect full year non-GAAP operating margin of around 9% at the midpoint, but we expect to exit the year approaching normal ranges. By segment, we expect Hybrid Cloud operating margin in the mid- to high single digits and Intelligent Edge to remain in the… pic.twitter.com/dcWqa5FzbP— AlphaSense (@AlphaSenseInc) March 6, 2025

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended sharply lower last night, with the S&P 500 falling more than 100 points, or 1.78%, to extend its worst five-day performance since September. Investors dumped U.S. stocks and trimmed positions in the dollar even as President Donald Trump attempted to roll back some of the levies he placed on goods from Canada and Mexico just a few days earlier.

Markets were left guessing as to the what the president's next steps might be. USCMA-compliant goods are now exempt until next month but might then be vulnerable to new duties when the administration unveils so-called reciprocal tariffs on all of America's trading partners on April 2.

"I'm not even looking at the market because long-term the United States will be very strong with what's happening here," Trump told reporters in Washington late Thursday.

Confusion around President Trump's tariff strategy has put the S&P 500 on pace for its worst week since September.
WIN MCNAMEE/Getty Images

The confusion on tariffs, meanwhile, is paired with a weakening economic data and a host of corporate warnings on consumer spending and rising prices, the latest of which came from retail giant Costco Wholesale (COST) last night.

"Consumers are still showing that willingness to spend, but they're being very choiceful where they're spending their dollars," said Costco's finance chief, Gary Millerchip. "And we think that's likely to continue and maybe even become more choiceful as the impact of some return of inflation and the potential impact of tariffs could flow through as well."

The sternest test of that economic weakness will arrive this morning at 8:30 a.m Eastern Time, with the Labor Department's February jobs report. .

Economists expect a headline hiring tally of 163,000, but softer data from payroll processing group ADP and corporate layoff tracker Challenger Gray suggest the chances of a weaker-than-expected reading that could underscore the current growth malaise.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will also speak on the broader economic outlook during an event in New York later this afternoon.

Stock futures, however, are edging higher into the start of trading, with the S&P 500 priced for a 15 point opening bell gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 37 points higher.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is priced for a 75 point advance following stronger-than-expected earnings from Broadcom (AVGO) that's helped lift some chip stocks.

More Wall Street Analysis:

In overseas markets, the "phenomenal uncertainty" described yesterday but the European Central Bank following its sixth rate cut since June helped push the regional Stoxx 600 benchmark 0.62% into the red by mid-day trading in Frankfurt, with the FTSE 100 down 0.48% in London.

Overnight in Asia, soft trade date from China over the first two months of the year dragged the regional MSCI ex-Japan index 0.63% lower into the close of trading while the Nikkei 225 fell 2.17% to close at the lowest level in six months.