See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium.  CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.

“Great ideas come from everywhere if you just listen and look for them. You never know who’s going to have a great idea.” – Sam Walton

Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.  

Strong results from Nvidia (NVDA) have pushed global markets higher. The stock is trading up over 5% in the pre-market, and as a result, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are both trading more than 1% higher. Even Russell 2000 futures, which have no exposure to NVDA, are up over 1%. Heck, the Dow is even trading higher!

International markets were also higher overnight in Asia and this morning, with gains of mostly 1% or more. Treasury yields are basically unchanged, crude oil is back to $60 per barrel, gold is flat, and crypto assets are up at least 3%.

We’re finally getting some economic data this morning, and the main report was the September Non-Farm Payrolls report, which showed 119K jobs created versus forecasts for an increase of 50K. Despite the larger-than-expected increase, the Unemployment Rate ticked up to 4.4% versus estimates of 4.3%. More timely data on jobless claims came in at a relatively benign 220K.

In his last press conference following the Federal Reserve’s October meeting on 10/29, Fed Chair Powell made comments regarding the consumer, noting that “Data available prior to the shutdown show that growth in economic activity may be on a somewhat firmer trajectory than expected, primarily reflecting stronger consumer spending.” He then went on to simply state, “Consumers are still spending.”

Based on data that the Federal Reserve has, consumer activity still looks strong, but the stock market seems to be sending a different message. The chart below shows YTD sector performance, and while the S&P 500 is still up close to 13% on the year, the Consumer Discretionary sector is the worst performer, and Consumer Staples is tied for the second worst. Both sectors are also two of just three sectors down on the year.

While neither consumer sector was a market leader at any point this year, both sectors have seen significant underperformance since the start of October, when the government shutdown started. While only four sectors are higher, Consumer Staples is down three times more than the S&P 500, and Consumer Discretionary is the worst-performing sector with a decline of 5.2%.