The stock market saw fresh record highs on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq during the holiday-shortened week, though small caps fell slightly. Tesla skyrocketed, helped by beating lowered delivery forecasts. U.S. auto sales were tame, though General Motors and Ford reported strong EV sales growth. China EV makers reported record or at least rising sales.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk faced some negative headlines, though Lilly won FDA approval for its Alzheimer's treatment donanemab. The jobs report and other economic data signaled slowing growth and perhaps easing inflation pressures.
S&P 500, Nasdaq Hit New Highs
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq punched above key levels, with the latter looking a little extended. Tesla fueled gains in those indexes, along with chips and software. Economic data bolstered rate-cut hopes. Treasury yields, which spiked early in the week, erased those gains. Copper futures spiked.
Jobs Report Confirms Slowdown
Friday's June jobs report finally caught up to the run of more sluggish economic data points that have been piling up. The U.S. added 206,000 jobs in June, slightly above views. But the private sector added just 136,000 jobs, well below views. Annual wage growth matched a three-year low of 3.9%. Meanwhile, the four-week average for initial jobless claims hit a nine-month high. The ISM service-sector index tumbled to 48.8 from 53.8, back below the neutral 50 level. Everything appears to be falling into place for a near-term Federal Reserve pivot to rate cuts. Fed chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the past two months of inflation data show "we're getting back on a disinflationary path."
Tesla Surges On Deliveries, Storage
Tesla skyrocketed, continuing a powerful run as second-quarter deliveries dropped 4% compared to a year ago but came in well above analysts' lowered expectations. Q2 deliveries of 443,956 did jump 15% vs. Q1, with the Model 3 and Y accounting for 422,405. Other vehicles, including the Model S, Model X and Cybertruck, sold 21,551. Production came in at 410,831, letting Tesla reduce inventories. Tesla also said it deployed 9.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage products, more than doubling Q1's record 4.053 GWh.
U.S. Auto Sales
New vehicle sales in the U.S. nudged up just 0.1% in the second quarter vs. a year ago, industry data showed. Steep interest rates and high prices continue to curb demand, experts say. General Motors and Ford U.S. sales grew less than 1% each. Toyota Motor sales jumped 9%, with hybrid vehicles still powering its growth. But sales slumped 21% for Jeep and Chrysler parent Stellantis. In Q2, GM's EV sales jumped 40% to a record as Ultium-EV production woes finally wane. Ford's EV sales popped 61% to a distant No. 2 in the U.S., while hybrids also jumped. Both GM and Ford indicated they are taking EV share from Tesla, which remains dominant in the U.S.
China EV Sales Pick Up
Tesla's Chinese rivals BYD, Nio and Zeekr achieved record quarterly deliveries. Li Auto and XPeng also reported higher second-quarter sales. China's EV market continues to rebound from a soft start to the year on the back of subsidies, discounts and incentives. This year, BYD has led a renewed price war in China while expanding further overseas, opening a Thai plant on July 4. In Q2, BYD sold nearly a million electric vehicles. It's selling more plug-in hybrid vehicles than purely battery electric vehicles in 2024 amid global shift toward hybrids as well as a more-advanced hybrid system with far better range. BYD BEV sales rose but lagged Tesla's.
Rivian Leaps On Deliveries, VW Buzz
Rivian reported Q2 deliveries of 13,790 EVs, a week after predicting 13,000-13,330. It produced 9,612 EVs in Q2 and reaffirmed full-year production guidance of 57,000. Meanwhile, reports emerged that Volkswagen and the EV startup are already discussing expanding their partnership from primarily software to also include hardware and joint production. VW's U.S. electric brand "Scout" could also be included in the partnership. Rivian stock jumped.
Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk Fall On News
President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a joint op-ed Tuesday called out the drug giants for the "unconscionably high" prices of their diabetes and weight-loss drugs. Later in the day, Eli Lilly won Food and Drug Administration approval for its Alzheimer's treatment donanemab, now called Kisunla. On Wednesday, a study out of a Harvard teaching hospital tied a disorder that can cause blindness to the diabetes and weight-loss drugs. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk retreated, but LLY erased weekly losses while NVO pared losses to hold in a buy zone.
Boeing To Buy Spirit Aero
Boeing will buy supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $37.25 a share, or $4.7 billion, in an all-stock deal. The Dow Jones giant aims to have more control over its supply chain amid recent safety lapses. Meanwhile, the Justice Department reportedly plans to charge the Dow Jones aerospace giant with fraud, urging Boeing to plead guilty to the criminal charge.
In Brief
European regulators say Meta Platforms is violating digital competition rules by only allowing users to opt-out of ad tracking by paying for a subscription product. Meta launched paid, ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram in the EU late last year. Meta shrugged off the news, jumping into a buy zone.
Sea Limited agreed to change parts of its Shopee e-commerce operations via a deal with Indonesian antitrust regulators, who accused the Southeast Asia internet services firm of unfairly favoring its own delivery services for customer orders on Shopee. Sea stock, which initially fell, slashed weekly losses.
