US close: Markets finish mixed after employment data surprise
Wall Street stocks closed in a mixed state on Thursday, as some stronger-than-expected data offset news that the US had registered a new single-day record for Covid-19 deaths.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.29% at 29,969.52 and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 0.23% at 12,377.18, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.06% to 3,666.72.
The Dow closed 85.73 points higher, extending gains recorded in the previous session as market participants continued to monitor developments regarding a possible stimulus bill.
Stimulus headlines were still in focus after the opening bell on Thursday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer issued a statement together asking both Republicans and Democrats to work together on another round of Covid-19 relief funding.
However, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell rejected the $908.0bn proposal and has repeatedly stated the next round of stimulus should be significantly smaller at roughly $500.0bn.
News that the UK had approved Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine was also still in focus, with US regulators set to make determinations on the vaccine and a similar candidate from Moderna later in the month, possibly allowing distribution to begin before the start of 2021.
The US currently has more than 100,000 patients hospitalised with Covid-19, according to the Covid Tracking Project, while daily deaths from the coronavirus topped 2,880 on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
On the macro front, US jobless claims for the previous week surprised sharply to the downside, according to the Department of Labor, with initial unemployment claims for the week ending on 28 November dropping by 75,000 to 712,000, considerably better than the print of 760,000 that some economists had pencilled in.
“Crucially, we have also seen a sharp decline in continuing jobless claims, with the figure of 5.5 million highlighting that there are roughly 78% less claimants compared with the May peak of 25 million,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.
“The steady decline in US unemployment comes in stark contrast to the rampant path of the coronavirus, with daily cases or 200,000 and hospitalisation of 100,000 yesterday.”
Mahony said the focus was now shifting towards the US jobs report on Friday.
“While markets expect further downside for tomorrow’s non-farm payrolls figure, yesterday's ADP reading does highlight how markets are willing to ignore weaker data in anticipation of a vaccine-fuelled recovery through 2021.”
Still on jobs, US-based employers announced 64,797 job cuts in November, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, down from 80,666 in October but still 45.4% higher year-on-year.
Elsewhere, activity in America's services sector slowed slightly in November as businesses try to cope with the recent surge in Covid-19 infections, the results of a closely-followed survey revealed.
The Institute for Supply Management's services sector purchasing managers' index fell from October's level of 56.6 points to 55.9. Economists were expecting a reading of 56.0.
Lastly, IHS Markit's composite PMI output index posted 58.6 in November, up from 56.3 in October to mark the sharpest rate of growth since March 2015, as manufacturing and service sector firms both recorded faster expansions in output.
In corporate news, industrial conglomerate 3M was down 0.01% after it revealed it would cut as many as 2,900 jobs globally, while fast fashion retailer Express plunged 25.71% after it missed earnings estimates and announced layoffs.
Dow Jones - Risers
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.82 7.48%
Boeing Co. (BA) $237.20 5.96%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $50.99 2.18%
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $73.29 1.88%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $52.78 1.29%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $136.96 1.02%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $135.09 0.78%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $40.21 0.68%
American Express Co. (AXP) $123.12 0.65%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $61.74 0.62%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $40.09 -1.74%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $268.14 -1.09%
Visa Inc. (V) $208.05 -1.01%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $235.47 -0.92%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $149.30 -0.81%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $123.61 -0.81%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $137.34 -0.74%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $121.24 -0.66%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $214.24 -0.52%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $81.45 -0.46%
S&P 500 - Risers
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $96.66 8.70%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $25.42 8.63%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $16.09 8.28%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $22.88 8.13%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.82 7.48%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $49.91 6.81%
Macerich Co (MAC) $11.07 6.44%
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $23.76 6.36%
Invesco Ltd. (IVZ) $17.80 6.21%
Mohawk Inds Inc. (MHK) $132.28 6.03%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $15.92 -6.63%
Kroger Co. (KR) $30.88 -4.37%
Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $124.90 -3.45%
International Paper Co. (IP) $48.24 -3.25%
Cummins Inc. (CMI) $220.34 -3.01%
DaVita Inc (DVA) $105.42 -2.71%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $131.72 -2.61%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $374.05 -2.46%
Deere & Co. (DE) $252.68 -2.44%
Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (APD) $267.25 -2.42%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
American Airlines Group (AAL) $16.09 8.28%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $42.82 7.48%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $35.22 6.24%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $234.47 4.34%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $593.38 4.32%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $108.49 3.20%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $132.32 2.80%
NortonLifeLock Inc. (NLOK) $19.10 2.74%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $10.69 2.69%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $289.53 2.67%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $374.05 -2.46%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $52.15 -2.27%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $73.89 -2.09%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $50.29 -2.06%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $281.85 -1.97%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $144.39 -1.85%
T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $131.19 -1.46%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $121.06 -1.38%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $92.66 -1.35%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $498.84 -1.25%