The stock market may have a wide range of reactions to Friday's December jobs, depending on the exact number, according to Goldman Sachs. The pace of jobs added to the U.S. economy is widely expected to have slowed last month. Nonfarm payrolls may have increased by 155,000 in December, down from 227,000 in November, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.
The strategist said the sweet spot for stocks is between 100,000 to 125,000, which can result in a kneejerk rally in the S & P 500 in the range of between 0.5% to 1%. Conversely, if the payroll number comes in between 175,000 to 200,000, the S & P 500 could sell off by the same amounts. A 200,000 headline number might drive down the stock market benchmark at least 1%, Flood said.