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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up modestly in pre-market hours after the U.S. Labor Department released its January jobs report.
The monthly update on U.S. employment factors in last month's government shutdown. In addition, markets are digesting the latest updates on trade talks between the United States and China.
Here are the numbers from Thursday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
| Index | Previous Close | Point Change | Percentage Change |
| Dow Jones | 24,999.67 | -15.19 | -0.06% |
| Nasdaq | 7,281.74 | 98.66 | 1.37% |
| S&P 500 | 2,704.10 | 23.05 | 0.86% |
Now here's a closer look at today's most important market events and stocks to watch...
Top Stories Moving the Dow Jones Industrial Average Today
- Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) fell 5% in pre-market hours after the e-commerce giant reported earnings after the bell Thursday. AMZN topped Wall Street earnings expectations - including $3 billion in profit. Earnings per share of $6.05 was up from $3.75 from the same time last year. The firm also topped revenue expectations at $72.4 billion. Despite the beat, shares fell after the company offered lukewarm profit guidance for the first quarter. In addition, company officials told investors during its conference call that the firm plans to hike investments in coming quarter.
- The S&P 500 finished with the strongest January performance since 1987. And U.S. payrolls increased by 304,000 employees despite the U.S. government shutdown. The huge rally in jobs surprised economists and traders alike. However, the government did downwardly revise the big December report from 312,000 new jobs to just 222,000. The official U.S. unemployment rate hit 4%, the highest level since June 2018.
- Cloud computing is rapidly becoming the most critical data solution in our increasingly mobile and digital lives. Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson argues that there is big money to be made in this business. Gartner projects the cloud computing market to grow nearly 60% to $278.3 billion in the next three years. Here are the three best buys in the industry.
Two Stocks to Watch Today: XOM, DB
- Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) jumped more than 2.6% in pre-market hours after the energy giant reported earnings before the bell. The oil major reported earnings per share of $1.41, easily topping Wall Street forecasts of $1.08. Its $7.2 billion in quarterly profits were a 72% jump from the same period last year. However, the firm did fall a bit short on the revenue front. Investors liked the news that Exxon plans to restructure its upstream business to reduce costs and bolster operating cash flow by 2025.
- On the European front, shares of Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) were off another 3.72% after the German banking giant reported earnings. The embattled financial institution reported its first annual profit since 2014. However, broader uncertainty remains from investors.
- On Friday, look for earnings reports from Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Cigna Holding Co. (NYSE: CI), Weatherford International Plc. (NYSE: WFT), Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ROP), Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), and Johnson Controls International Plc. (NYSE: JCI).
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About the Author
Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.