Wall Street cautious after November jobs data

Futures steady as investors take profits on AI stocks and rotate into real-economy sectors.

U.S. equity futures traded little changed on Tuesday as investors assessed the November jobs report. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 hovered around the flatline.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 64,000 jobs in November, beating economists’ expectations of a 45,000 increase. The broader picture, however, remained mixed: October saw a loss of 105,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, slightly above forecasts.

Wall Street closed lower on Monday, weighed down by selloffs in major artificial intelligence-related stocks. Broadcom fell 5.6%, ServiceNow plunged 11.5% and Oracle declined 2.7%, while Microsoft also ended the session in negative territory. Investors continued to take profits from high-flying AI names, rotating capital into more defensive areas such as health care and utilities.

Despite recent weakness, the U.S. stock market remains on track for a positive year, with all eleven S&P 500 sectors posting gains. According to Strategas’ head of technical and macro research Chris Verrone, investor focus is increasingly shifting toward real-economy sectors such as industrials, financials, consumer discretionary and materials, which are showing signs of renewed momentum in the months ahead.

Andrea Pelucchi