Today started with a relief rally in the bond market when the Treasury announced at 8:30 am that it would issue less than most dealers expected in 10-year and 30-year bonds next week. The 10-year Treasury yield dropped from 4.934% yesterday afternoon around 5:00 pm to close at 4.734%. Contributing to the rally were weaker-than-expected M-PMI and ADP reports for October. On the other hand, September's JOLTS report reassured stock investors that there are still plenty of job openings. Of course, the rally in the bond market also helped the stock market, especially the Nasdaq, which rose 1.63%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.05%.
The FOMC chose to remain on pause today. There was nothing new in Powell's presser this afternoon, though he didn't sound as hawkish as at his October 19 interview. So the rallies in both bond and stock market continued through the close.
Let's briefly review today's economic data releases:
(1) JOLTS & ADP. Job openings ticked up to 9.6 million in September (chart). There are still 1.5 job openings for every unemployed worker. Quits also edged higher. They remain on a downtrend, which might take same pressure off wage inflation, maybe, and boost productivity, certainly.
