US Market Commentary : Wall Street flat as investors look to jobs data : 05.08.2016

Wall Street flat as investors look to jobs data The monthly hiring data will help investors gauge the health of the economy and possibly offer insight as to when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again.

Wall Street stocks ended little changed on Thursday as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of Friday's US payrolls report for July. The monthly hiring data will help investors gauge the health of the economy and possibly offer insight as to when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again.

"Folks would probably prefer to wait on those numbers before they make a commitment in front of them," said Gary Bradshaw, portfolio manager at Hodges Capital Management in Dallas.

"It’s probably dampening the market enthusiasm today."

Wednesday's ADP employment report showed private employers added 9,000 more jobs than anticipated in July. Thursday's initial jobless claims reading showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but still showed a healthy labour market.

Traders have priced in a 12 percent chance of a rate hike in September and a 38.5 percent chance in December, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.95 points, or 0.02 percent, to 18,352.05, the S&P 500 gained 0.46 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,164.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.51 points, or 0.13 percent, to 5,166.25.

The Bank of England lowered its key lending rate to 0.25 percent from 0.5 and said it would take "whatever action is necessary" to achieve stability in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Priceline.com shares jumped 4.4 percent in extended trading after the online travel services company posted second-quarter earnings.

During the trading session, MetLife dropped nearly 9 percent and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 after the largest US life insurer's quarterly profit missed estimates. Ball Corp jumped 12 percent after its quarterly sales rose. It was the top percentage gainer on the S&P 500. According to Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning, of the 403 companies in the S&P 500 that have posted earnings, 70 percent have topped expectations, in line with the beat rate for the past four quarters.

Earnings are expected to show a decline of 2.8 percent for the quarter, better than the 4.5 percent decline expected on July 1. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.30-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.06-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.

 The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 79 new highs and 30 new lows.

About 6.39 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, compared with the 6.59 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

US Market Commentary : Wall Street edges lower as energy sector weighs : 02.08.2016

Wall Street edges lower as energy sector weighs The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.73 points, or 0.15 percent, to 18,404.51, the S&P 500 lost 2.76 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,170.84 and the Nasdaq Composite added 22.07 points, or 0.43 percent, to 5,184.20.

The S&P 500 and the Dow closed slightly lower on Monday, as a drop in oil prices dragged down energy stocks, while tech names Apple and Alphabet helped lift the Nasdaq to its highest close in over a year. The S&P 500 had hit a record high earlier in the session, but was unable to hold gains as

US crude CLc1 slumped to below USD 40 a barrel, its lowest level since April, before settling at USD 40.06. "Oil has once again re-emerged as a real driver of how investors are gauging the trend for equities

 "Now we are beginning to see the glut narrative have an impact on oil and have an impact on equities." The S&P 500 gained 3.6 percent in July, its best month since March, touching record intraday highs seven times, as the US economy showed signs of picking up and corporate earnings were not as bad as had been initially feared.

Earnings are now expected to decline 3 percent for the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, an improvement from the 4.5 percent decline expected on July 1. Exxon and Chevron were down 3.1 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, as the biggest drags on both the Dow and the S&P 500. The S&P energy sector lost 3.3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.73 points, or 0.15 percent, to 18,404.51, the S&P 500 lost 2.76 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,170.84 and the Nasdaq Composite added 22.07 points, or 0.43 percent, to 5,184.20. The Nasdaq closed at its highest level since July 21, 2015. Apple Inc rose 1.8 percent, providing the biggest boost to the three main indexes.

Apple has gained more than 9 percent since reporting results last week. Google parent Alphabet Inc was up 1.2 percent at USD 800.94. Data on Monday, however, showed US manufacturing activity slowed in July as orders fell broadly and construction spending dropped in June, following up a tepid reading on US second-quarter gross domestic product on Friday.

Traders saw the chance of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike by year-end at about 35 percent, according to CME Group's Fedwatch, down from more than 50 percent last week. SolarCity Corp fell 7.4 percent to USD 24.72 and Tesla Motors declined 2 percent, to USD 230.01, after Tesla said the two companies had agreed to merge. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.02-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 105 new highs and 21 new lows. About 6.65 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, compared with the 6.6 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.