Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market was back on a winning track today after modest declines yesterday, which broke an eight-session winning streak for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. The Russell 2000 outperformed its peers, rising 1.3%. The S&P 500 logged a 0.4% gain and the Nasdaq Composite settled 0.6% higher.

Volume was below-average at the NYSE again today, reflecting an ongoing lack of conviction. Still, advancers had a 3-to-1 lead over decliners at the NYSE and a 5-to-2 lead at the Nasdaq. 

Today's release of revisions to nonfarm payrolls for the April 2023-March 2024 period, which ultimately garnered a muted response from equities, showed that there were 818,000 fewer nonfarm payroll positions than previously thought, creating some concern that the labor market has been softening for a longer period than previously thought.

The stock and bond markets also had muted reactions to today's $16 billion 20-yr bond auction, which met good demand, and the release of the minutes from the July 30-31 FOMC meeting. The minutes were highlighted by the Fed's comments that a rate cut was "plausible" at the meeting, suggesting a September cut was all but guaranteed.

The 10-yr note yield settled four basis points lower at 3.78% and the 2-yr note yield declined seven basis points to 3.92%. 

The upside bias in the stock market was supported by shares of Target (TGT 159.25, +16.04, +11.2%), which surged after reporting earnings and raising its full-year earnings outlook has contributed to the upside bias. TJX (TJX 120.23, +6.92, +6.1%) also traded higher after reporting earnings and raising its full-year comparable sales guidance.

TGT and TJX were among the top performing stocks in the S&P 500. This price action boosted the consumer staples (+0.6%) and consumer discretionary (+1.2%) sectors.

• Nasdaq Composite: +19.4% YTD
• S&P 500: +17.8% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: +9.7% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +8.5% YTD
• Russell 2000: +7.1% YTD

Reviewing today's economic data:

• Weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index -10.1%; Prior 16.8%

Thursday's economic lineup features:

• 8:30 ET: Weekly initial (Briefing.com consensus 225,000; prior 227,000) and continuing (prior 1.864 million) jobless claims
• 9:45 ET: August preliminary S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI (prior 49.6) and S&P Global US Services PMI (prior 55.0)
• 10:00 ET: July Existing Home Sales (Briefing.com consensus 3.9 million; prior 3.89 million)
• 10:30 ET: EIA Natural Gas Inventories (prior -6 bcf)