US EQUITIES MIXED AHEAD OF JOBS REPORT

Published on Sep 06, 2024 11:38

Equities on the Wall Street finished a volatile session on a mixed note on Thursday as investors stayed skeptical ahead of Friday�s jobs report. The Nasdaq bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing up 43.37 points or 0.3 percent at 17,127.66. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell 16.66 points or 0.3 percent to 5,503.41 and the Dow slid 219.22 points or 0.5 percent to 40,755.75. Health led the losses with a 3.5% drop in share of Eli Lilly and a 1.5% fall in shares of UnitedHealth, while consumer discretionary advanced the most, as Amazon (+2.6%) and Tesla (4.9%) outperformed.

Meanwhile, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of August. ADP said private sector employment rose by 99,000 jobs in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 111,000 jobs in July. The Labor Department released a separate report showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 31st. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 227,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week`s revised level of 232,000. Later today, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of August, which includes both public and private sector jobs.

The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, decreased by 3.7 basis points to 3.731 percent, its lowest closing level in over a year. The dollar index also stayed cautiously lower below 101 mark.