Looking Ahead to Friday's Market

October 4, 2012

by Don Moenning

Quick Recap of Wednesday’s Session:

Stocks finished decidedly higher on Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive positive finish for the S&P 500. Major indices started the day higher following heightened sentiment from Wednesday night’s presidential debates. Stocks would rally in early trading following a better than expected U.S. Factor Orders report. The S&P 500 was up for a fourth straight session. Some of the factors cited for the broader market move included the continued improvement in sentiment surrounding the banks, the widely perceived victory by Republican challenger Mitt Romney in last night's presidential debate, slightly better than expected US economic data and the lack of surprises from today's higher-profile events/headlines surrounding the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. Financials led the move higher, while tech was a laggard.

S&P 500 +0.72%, NASDAQ +0.45%, DJIA +0.60%, Midcaps +0.84%.

Looking Ahead to Friday:

Before the bell here in the U.S. is the always important Nonfarm Payrolls report, and the Unemployment Rate.

Later in the day, we get Consumer Credit at 3:00pm EST.

The bulls finally won one in convincing fashion on Thursday, marking the fourth straight green day for the S&P 500. The index is now just 0.29% below its 2012 highs, so one more push from the bulls tomorrow could trigger a breakout. The Nonfarm Payrolls report should give us a good indicator of how Friday morning will look before trading starts.

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Looking Ahead to Friday's Market