Stock Market News for Jul 5, 2024
Wall Street closed mixed on Wednesday as investors digested a series of soft economic data. Trading volume was muted as U.S. stock markets were closed after first-half on Independence Day eve. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended in positive territory while the Dow finished in negative zone. Wall Street was closed on Thursday to celebrate Independence Day.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down 0.1% to close at 39.308.00. The blue-chip index was down more than 100 points at intraday low. Notably, 17 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory while 13 in negative zone.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 18,188.30, rising 0.9% or 159.54 points due to good performance by technology behemoths. This marked the tech-laden index’s fresh closing and intraday highs.
The major gainer of the index was Tesla Inc. TSLA. The stock price of the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer climbed 6.5%. Tesla currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 gained 0.5% to finish at 5,537,02, marking a fresh closing high. In intraday trading, the benchmark posted an all-time high at 5,539.27. Seven out of the 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory, while four in negative zone. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) advanced 1.4% while the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) fell 0.8%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 0.2% to 12.11. A total of 7.11 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 11.64 billion. The NYSE recorded 287 new highs and 50 new lows. The Nasdaq Composite registered 51 new highs and 114 new lows.
Economic Data
Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP reported that the U.S. private sector added 150,000 jobs in June, below the consensus estimate of 165,000. This marked the slowest pace of growth since August 2021. In June, wages for job stayers rose 4.9% from the prior year, reflecting the slowest growth since August 2021. Wages for workers who changed jobs increased 7.7% year over year, down from 7.8% the month prior.
The Department of Labor reported that initial claims increased 4,000 to 238,000 for the week ended Jun 29, higher-than the consensus estimate of 233,000. Previous week’s data was revised upward by 1,000 to 234,000.
Continuing claims (those who have already received government aids and reported a week behind) increased 26,000 to 1.858 million for the week ended Jun 22. This is the highest level for continuing claims since the week ended Nov 27, 2021. The previous week's level was revised downward by 1,750 from 1.816 million to 1.814.25 million.
The Institute of Supply Management reported that the services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) unexpected contracted to 48.8% in June from 53.8% in May. The consensus estimate was 52.8%. Any reading below 50% indicates contraction in services activities.
New orders index fell to 47.3% in June from 54.1% in May. Inventories index came in at 42.9% in June from 52.1% in May. Backlog of orders index stood at 44% in June from 50.8% in May. Exports orders index fell to 51.7% in June from 61.8% in May.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that new orders for manufactured goods fell 0.5% in May in contrast to the consensus estimate of an increase of 0.3%. The metric for April was revised downward to a rise of 0.4% from 0.7% reported earlier. New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 0.1% while new orders for manufactured non-durable goods decreased 0.1%.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that trade deficit was $75.1 billion in May, lower than the consensus estimate of a deficit of $76.3 billion. The metric for April was revised marginally to a deficit of $74.5 billion from a deficit of $74.6 billion reported earlier.
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