Before The Bell
U.S. stocks began the holiday-shortened week mostly to the downside.
On the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management set the negative tone with its June report on the service sector. The company’s purchasing managers index showed that expansion slowed by nearly four percentage points last month, to 60.1%. (Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 indicate contraction. The index set a record high of 64% in May, and has now been in expansion mode for 13 consecutive months. The slowdown follows Friday’s jobs report which showed the nation’s unemployment rate edging back up to 5.9%.
The Dow Jones Industrials ended the session down 209 points, with Walt Disney (DIS), Caterpillar (CAT), Chevron (CVX) and Dow Inc. (DOW) all posting losses of 2% or more. Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 fared slightly better, shedding only eight points, but it ended a seven-session winning streak for the index. Lastly, the tech-heavy NASDAQ bucked the trend and etched a new high by rising 24 points. In terms of sector performance, energy stocks took the biggest hit, falling 3.2% on the session. Meanwhile, financials and materials each fell by about 1.5%. On the positive side of the ledger, real estate and consumer discretionary issue each gained about three-quarters of a percent.
The European bourses had a tougher go of it, with the U.K. FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX, and France’s CAC-40 all posting losses of more than three-quarters of a percentage point. Elsewhere oil prices also moved lower, with light sweet crude down 2.2%, to about $73.50 a barrel. The commodity surged to a six-year high but stumbled after OPEC and its allies could not reach an agreement on output increases.
As we look to the new day, stocks in Asian markets were mixed, but mostly down. However, the European bourses are mostly trading higher. Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures are suggesting the major indexes will open with a modest uptick, and crude oil prices are down slightly lower. Later today, traders will be poring through the minutes of the last Fed meeting for more clues on monetary policy changes. But expectations remain that the lead bank will likely keep rates low until at least next year.
– Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
