Opening Comment — Friday, August 09, 2024
DJIA: 39,446.49, up 683.04
S&P 500: 5,319.31, up 119.81
NASDAQ: 16,660.02, up 464.21
Stocks higher to close out volatile week
Stock futures are higher on Friday as investors look forward to key inflation data due next week. The Dow is up 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is rising 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.3% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Thursday, as investors evaluated the latest weekly jobless claims data, which showed initial jobless claims coming in lower than expectations. This helped alleviate concerns raised by last week’s July payrolls and unemployment data, which had suggested a potential weakening in the labor market. The Dow was up 1.8%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.9%. The S&P 500 increased 2.3% with all 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Information Technology sector gained the most, rising 3.3%.
On the data front yesterday, initial jobless claims for the week ending August 3 were 233,000, lower than the prior week’s revised reading of 250,000, while continuing claims for the week ending July 27 registered at 1.88 million versus the prior week’s revised reading of 1.87 million. The final reading for June’s wholesale inventories increased 0.2% month-over-month, unchanged from the prior reading.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading with the final reading for Germany’s July Consumer Price Index (CPI) data remaining unchanged from the prior reading. France’s unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped in the second quarter while wage growth slowed.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher with China’s CPI increasing more than expectations in July, while the country’s Producer Price Index (PPI) showed less deflation than expected.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is little changed following softer-than-expected weekly jobless claims data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% higher at $76.43/barrel, as concerns about an escalating conflict in the Middle East continued.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.1% lower at $2420.90/ounce.