Stocks Slump Following Recent Rally…..
U.S. stocks faded in late afternoon trading before closing the day in the red. This comes after last week’s sharp rally that had taken the Nasdaq back to record high territory and the S&P 500 on a grind closer to positive figures for the year. The global markets seemed to reassess the run as new COVID-19 cases continue to climb, data out of the Eurozone was softer than expected and uncertainty continued regarding China’s new security law on Hong Kong. Treasury yields were mostly lower as bonds prices rose and the U.S. dollar gained ground, while a read on demand for U.S. labor in May surprisingly rose. Crude oil prices were little changed and gold turned higher. Novavax jumped after being awarded $1.6 billion from the government biotech program dubbed Operation Warp Speed, Sunrun agreed to acquire Vivint Solar, and United Airlines fell amid pressure on travel-related issues and a report from CNBC about potential layoffs. Europe finished lower and Asia closed mixed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 397 points (1.5%) to 25,890, the S&P 500 Index decreased 34 points (1.1%) to 3,145 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 90 points (0.9%) to 10,344. In moderately-heavy volume, 961 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 4.3 billion shares changed hands on the NASDAQ. WTI crude was little changed at $40.62 per barrel and wholesale gasoline increased $0.03 to $1.27 per gallon. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price gained $12.15 to $1,796.83 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—was up 0.3% at 96.98.
Treasury yields dipped, job openings unexpectedly rebounded in May…..
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), a measure of unmet demand for labor, surprisingly rose to 5.4 million jobs available to be filled in May, from April’s downwardly-revised 5.0 million figure and compared to forecasts calling for a drop to 4.5 million. The report showed the hiring rate rose to 4.9% from April’s 3.1% rate and separations fell to 3.1% from 7.6%.
Treasuries were mostly higher as the stock markets paused from the recent rally and following the positive employment data, as the yield on the 2-year note was flat at 0.16%, the yield on the 10-year note ticked 4 basis points (bps) lower to 0.64%, and the 30-year bond rate decreased 7 bps to 1.37%.
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