Closing Stock Market SummaryThe stock market exhibited a bit of volatility today in the face of general growth concerns. The major indices were trading lower most of the day before closing with modest gains after a late session rally attempt.
The early going was marked by a lack of buyer conviction with declining issues leading advancing issues by an 11-to-5 margin at the NYSE and an 8-to-5 margin at the Nasdaq. Buyers stepped in some by the close, narrowing the spread of decliners to advancers to an 8-to-5 margin at the NYSE and a 6-to-5 margin at the Nasdaq.
The mega caps offered some support to the broader market. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) closed up 0.6% versus a 0.4% gain in the S&P 500. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) closed flat.
The top performing S&P 500 sectors today were utilities (+1.0%), information technology (+0.9%), health care (+0.7%), materials (+0.6%), and industrials (+0.6%).
The only three sectors to close in negative territory were consumer discretionary (-0.2%), financials (-0.3%), and energy (-1.7%) which lagged by a wide margin.
Energy futures mostly fell this session. WTI crude oil futures fell as low as $95.10/bbl before settling the session down 0.7% to $98.69/bbl. Unleaded gasoline futures closed near the intraday low, down 3.1% to $3.24/gal. Natural gas futures went against the grain, settling up 0.2% to $5.50/mmbtu.
Treasury yields saw some whipsaw action with the 2s10s spread remaining inverted. The 2-yr note yield settled up 12 basis points to 2.94%, after hitting 2.76% before the open, while the 10-yr note yield settled up ten basis points to 2.91% after scraping 2.74% before the open.
The U.S. Dollar Index closed up 0.5% to 107.06 as the euro continues to slip toward parity with the dollar (EUR/USD -0.8% to 1.0185).
The minutes for the June 14-15 FOMC meeting were released this afternoon. All in all, there was nothing surprising in the minutes, which conveyed the Fed's commitment to restoring price stability.
Reviewing today's economic data:
- Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index -5.4%; Prior 0.7%
- June IHS Markit Services PMI - Final 52.7; Prior 51.6
- June ISM Non-Manufacturing Index 55.3% (consensus 54.2%); Prior 55.9%
- The key takeaway from the June report is that business activity for the non-manufacturing sector was better than expected, although growth slowed for the third straight month as businesses continued to grapple with pricing pressures, supply chain issues, and labor supply constraints.
- May JOLTS - Job Openings 11.254 mln; Prior was revised to 11.681 mln from 11.400 mln
Looking ahead to Thursday, market participants will receive the weekly initial jobless claims (consensus 234,000; prior 231,000) and continuing claims (prior 1.328 million) as well as the May trade balance (consensus -$84.9 billion; prior -$87.1 billion) at 8:30 a.m. ET, the EIA natural gas inventories (prior +82 bcf) at 10:30 a.m. ET, and EIA crude oil inventories (prior -2.76 million) at 11:00 a.m. ET.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -14.6% YTD
- S&P 400: -19.8% YTD
- S&P 500: -19.3% YTD
- Russell 2000: -23.1% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: -27.4% YTD