FKLI Related News

The Dow finished down 139 points, or 1.1%, to 13093, despite a relatively upbeat monthly jobs report. The decline erased yesterday’s 136-point gain. It was also the biggest slide on a day when nonfarm payrolls topped economists’ expectations since June 6, 2008, according to FactSet.

Some say better jobs data diminish the odds of even more QE, a prospect that doesn’t sit well with traders. Others think President Obama’s reelection chances got a boost by the better jobs data, which could hurt the market in the short term as Wall Street generally prefers a Romney victory. No matter the explanation, what seems fairly certain is investors are getting a bit antsy ahead of the election.

“The more that equities sell off before the election, the more chance there is that we have at least a brief risk rally thereafter,” he says, “as some immediate political uncertainty is removed, even if fiscal cliff uncertainty will linger.” He also says investors should analyze today’s downturn with a degree of caution, especially considering Wall Street is still recovering from Sandy and many market participants are still operating under emergency conditions. That said, Ruskin is particularly concerned about the looming budget showdown that has become commonly referred to as the fiscal cliff. That scenario is coming, no matter who wins the election.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9% to 1414. Its materials and energy shares slid as oil, gold and natural-gas prices fell. Front month crude-oil futures slumped $2.23, or 2.6%, to $84.86 a barrel, while gold futures shed $40, or 2.3%, to $1,674.10 an ounce.  The tech-heavy Nasdaq Comp fell 1.3% to 2982 while Apple Inc. AAPL -3.31% shares tumbled 3.3% to $576.80, its lowest level since July 26. The stock closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time this year. The dollar's advance against the euro and yen helped contribute to the weakness in commodities prices, Mr. Wilkinson said.

Friday's labor data "is in the right direction, but it's not anything to shoot off fireworks about," said Darrell Cronk, regional chief investment officer for Wells Fargo WFC -0.94% Private Bank. "I don't know if there's any vaulting positive message that the market can take. Now you'll see people holding pat until the elections." U.S. factory orders rose 4.8% in September, the Commerce Department reported. The gain was the steepest in 1½ years but fell short of economists' prediction for a 4.9% increase.

European markets were mostly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.4%. The final reading of Markit's October purchasing managers' index for the euro zone was revised up slightly to 45.4 from a previous reading of 45.3. Still, that marked the 15th-consecutive month of contraction in manufacturing activity for the region. Asian markets were broadly higher on the back of strong gains in the U.S., resulting from encouraging economic data. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rallied 1.2%, and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% for a fourth-straight gain.

In corporate news, TripAdvisor notched the biggest gain among stocks in the S&P 500, climbing $5.71, or 19%, to $35.12 after its third-quarter results topped analysts' views. Priceline rose 48.64, or 8.3%, to 634.74, and Starbucks rallied 4.22, or 9.1%, to 50.84 as their results also were better than expected.

FKLI spot month price opened lower this morning at 1644.5, following Dow Jones' more than 100 points sell-off. Today's Support and Resistance is located around 1630 and 1660 respectively.
[The Wall Street Journal]