Stocks began the holiday shortened week on the plus side, led by gains in tech stocks which propelled the NASDAQ to a new record. Ahead of today’s opening bell, however, the futures are pointing to a negative start for the major indexes. In overnight trading, the markets in Asia closed mostly higher, but stocks in Europe are trading in the loss column. Elsewhere, oil prices have moved higher, with West Texas Intermediate up about 1.0%, to around $84.20 a barrel.
On the economic docket for this week we have the May job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics due out today. The Street consensus is calling for the number of openings to slip to about 7.9 million, compared to the 8.1 million recorded in April.
On Wednesday, the Department of Labor will release its report on initial jobless claims. Analysts are looking for the total to come in around 235,000, up slightly from the 233,000 reported the week before. Additionally, the Institute for Supply Management will come out with its non-manufacturing (services) Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for June. Forecasts are calling for a reading of about 52.5%, down from 53.8% in May. (Percentages above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 denote contraction.) We’ll also get the latest figures on factory orders, where estimates are pointing to an increase of 0.3% for June, down from the 0.7% advance posted the month before.
The markets will conclude trading at 1:00 PM EDT on Wednesday ahead of the holiday and be closed on Thursday in observance of Independence Day.
Things start right back up again on Friday with the June jobs report due out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Expectations are that nonfarm payrolls expanded by 189,000 last month, down from the 272,000 positions added in May. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is widely anticipated to remain flat, at 4.0%.
Summing up Monday’s moves for the major U.S. indexes, the Dow Jones Industrials gained 50 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 was up 14 points (0.3%), and the NASDAQ advanced 146 points (0.8%). - Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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