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Morning Watchlist: Volatility Spiking Ahead of Jobs Data
Tom White
April 04, 2025
U.S. stock futures are sharply lower ahead of the opening bell and extending yesterday’s sell-off with the S&P 500 off over3%. Adding fuel to the fire in the markets, China announced plans to place an extra 34% tariffs on U.S. goods from April 10. Volatility is spiking with the CBOE VIX above 40, its highest level since the equity sell-off last August. Treasuries are higher and inverse Yields are lower with the 10-Year at 6-month lows near 3.9%. Oil is down over 8% near $62 a barrel, its lowest level in 3.5 years.
Investor focus turns to the March Jobs data today along with a correction in stocks. Also, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell discusses his outlook on the U.S. economy at the 2025 annual conference of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing at 11:25 AM ET.
Morning Movers
Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)
Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are dumping 8% near $61.50 a barrel, hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and output increases announced by the OPEC+ producer group. Crude is near over 3-year lows this morning.
Gold (/GC) – Gold is up half a percent and nearing $3150.
Bitcoin (/BTC) – The crypto future is up 0.5% to $82.5K.
VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index has spiked another 40%+ to 43.
U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is flat around 101.6 after dropping yesterday.
Biggest Premarket Movers
Symbol | Product | Mark % Change (as of 7 AM ET) |
|---|---|---|
MDLZ | Mondelez | +1.25% |
EXC | Exelon | +1.00% |
KDP | Keurig Dr. Pepper | +0.93% |
RL | Ralph Lauren | -9.17% |
FCX | Freeport-McMoRan | -8.98% |
GEHC | GE Healthcare | -8.69% |
Economic Data
Time | Event |
|---|---|
8:30AM ET | March Jobs Report |
11:25AM ET | Fed’s Powell Speaks |
12:00PM ET | Fed’s Barr Speaks |
12:45PM ET | Fed’s Waller Speaks |
1:00PM ET | Baker Hughes Rig Count |
Notable Earnings
Premarket | Postmarket | Premarket Monday | Postmarket Monday |
|---|---|---|---|
None | None | None | PLAY, GBX, LEVI |
Upgrades/Downgrades
Grupo Santander upgrades ASML (ASML) to Outperform from Neutral
BTIG upgrades Booking (BKNG) to Buy from Neutral
Evercore upgrades Genuine Parts (GPC) to Outperform from In Line
Daiwa downgrades Goldman Sachs (GS) to Neutral from Outperform
Citi downgrades Kraft Heinz (KHC) to Sell from Neutral
JPMorgan downgrades Dow (DOW) to Neutral from Overweight
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