Stocks finished mixed Monday, as investors looked to the first week of a new trading month focused on a string of labor market data releases and the chances of an autumn rate cut from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 115 points, or about 0.3% to 38,571.03, while the S&P 500 rose 0.11% to 5,283.40 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.56% to finish at 16,828.67.
Looking over the last month, Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist and Jeffrey Buchbinder, chief equity strategist for LPL Financial, wrote that “to say May was an eventful month for the market is an understatement."
"Investors navigated around the latter half of first-quarter earnings, a breakout to record highs for the broader market, elevated volatility across fixed income and currency markets, and a mixed bag of economic data — not to mention elevated political uncertainty stemming from the conviction of former President Donald Trump,” they said.
Overall, they added, "markets shrugged off political uncertainty, bad economic data was mostly taken as good news for stocks by reviving hope for interest rate cuts, while good news helped write the goldilocks narrative of economic conditions being just right."
Updated at 1:29 PM EDT
Moving lower
Stocks aren't finding any support from the slump in Treasury yields heading into the final hours of trading, with the S&P 500 last marked 28 points, or 0.53% lower and the Nasdaq turning red and falling 25 points, or 0.15%.
GameStop shares, as well as meme stock brethren AMC Entertainment, are still holding onto their earlier surge, with the former rising 34% to $31.00 each and the latter last marked 17.4% higher at $5.10 each.
Related: Roaring Kitty sparks another GameStop stock surge, short squeeze
Updated at 12:31 PM EDT
Trading Glitch
The New York Stock Exchange said it has fixed a technical glitch that trigged a surge in volatility for dozens of listed stocks, including Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) in early Monday trading.
The NYSE said the glitch, which was linked to a new software rollout, affected around 49 listed stocks during the hours of 9:30 an and 10:27 am Eastern time, erroneously placing them in 'pause' restrictions normally reserved for extreme volatility, leading to wild swings for some big-name stocks.
Here are the 49 ticker symbols that were affected by this morning's trading glitch, per the Consolidated Tape Association (CTA):
— Dominic Chu (@TheDomino) June 3, 2024
AAT ABT ADRT ADRT.U AMC AONC ARGT ARI ASR AXIL BBD BMO BOND BOW BRK.A BSAC CMG CSAN DFEN DOGZ DXYZ ESS FNV…
Updated at 12:05 PM EDT
Stagflation signals?
Treasury bond yields are moving firmly lower in mid-day trading, with a similar decline for the dollar, as investors pick through details of a private report on manufacturing activity in the world's biggest economy.
The ISM's PMI report for May fell to 48.7 points last month, down from 49.2 in April, and has sat below the 50 point mark that separate growth from contraction for most of the past year and a half.
The PMI survey shows the U.S. economy is still operating in low gear, but that inflation pressures are still substantial in the goods supply chain," said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank in Dallas.
Benchmark 10-year note yields were last seen trading 8 basis points lower on the session at 4.406% while 2-year note yields were down 5 basis points to 4.821%
The dollar index was down 0.49% at 104.158.
May ISM Manufacturing down to 48.7 vs. 49.6 est. & 49.2 prior … new orders fell further into contraction (down to 45.4); production down to 50.2; prices paid down to 57 … employment up into expansion to 51.1 pic.twitter.com/Lz4NW2OJkh
— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) June 3, 2024
Updated at 11:00 AM EDT
Muted action
Stocks are slipping lower into the late-morning session, with the S&P 500 down 12.5 points, or 0.5%, and the Dow getting dragged by Caterpillar (CAT) and Chevron (CVX) .
The Nasdaq, meanwhile is up 23 points, or 0.14%, and is being held up in part by another solid gain for Nvidia following CEO Jensen Huang's keynote address to a big tech conference in Taiwan over the weekend.
Related: Analyst resets Nvidia stock price target as CEO unveils new AI platform
Updated at 9:36 AM EDT
Green open
The S&P 500 added 18 points, or xx%, in the opening minutes of trading while the Nasdaq was up 126 points, or 0.75%. The Dow added 10 points as investors looked ahead of a sets of job market data points over the coming week.
With earnings season mostly in the rearview mirror, traders will increasingly focus on whether inflation is continuing to cool, or is stuck in a loop that will leave interest rates in “higher-for-longer” limbo," said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading and investing at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. "This week’s jobs report represents the next big test."
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Jun. 03, 2024)$SPY +0.27% 🟩$QQQ +0.93% 🟩$DJI -0.03% 🟥$IWM +0.68% 🟩 pic.twitter.com/q9e7cscYPb
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) June 3, 2024
Check back for updates throughout the trading day
Stocks ended May on a mixed note as well as the S&P 500 and the Dow posted closing gains while the Nasdaq wrapped up its worst weekly decline of the year as investors took profits from tech stocks but still left the index with a quarterly gain of 2.17%.
With nearly all the S&P 500 reporting first-quarter earnings over the past six weeks, Wall Street's focus will shift to the labor market, with updates on April job openings, ADP's National Employment report and the crucial May nonfarm-payrolls reading slated for Friday, June 7.
Analysts expect the economy added around 185,000 new jobs last month, a nudge higher from the 175,000 tally in April, with unemployment holding at 3.9%.
Following on from Friday's softer-than-expected April PCE inflation report, markets will be keen to see any related slowing in the job market, and the corresponding impact it will have on the Fed's new growth and inflation forecasts. The central bank will publish those after its next policy meeting on Wednesday, June 12.
Traders at present see little to no chance of a Fed rate move over the summer, but they currently peg the odds of a September rate cut at around 54%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch.
Related: The Fed doesn't want to talk about stagflation. It might not have a choice.
Benchmark 2-year note yields were last seen trading at 4.868% heading into the New York session, while 10-year notes eased to 4.475%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.05% lower at 104.619.
On Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up just 0.44% for the quarter, suggest a 17 point opening-bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are priced for a 16 point bump.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is set for a 95 point advance, thanks in part to early gains for Nvidia (NVDA) , Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Tesla (TSLA) .
Meme stocks are also back in the spotlight afte influential retail trader Keith Gill, better-known as Roaring Kitty, unveiled a $116 million position in GameStop (GME) over the weekend.
GameStop shares were last marked 72% higher at $39.75 each while AMC Entertainment (AMC) surged 26% to $5.45 each.
More Wall Street Analysts:
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- Analysts reboot Dell stock price targets ahead of earnings
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 rose 0.47% in early Frankfurt trading with traders focused on a likely rate cut from the European Central Bank on Thursday. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.17% higher in London.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.13% in Tokyo while a stronger-than-expected reading for May factory activity in China helped the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index rise 1.96% into the close of trading.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
