Nasdaq Edges Higher; ISM Services PMI Falls In July

U.S. stocks were mixed midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite edging higher on Thursday.

The Dow traded down 0.10% to 35,245.80 while the NASDAQ rose 0.02% to 13,976.60. The S&P 500, also fell, dropping, 0.19% to 4,504.90.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

• Energy shares rose by 1.4% on Thursday.
• In trading on Thursday, real estate shares dipped by 2.6%.

 

Top Headline

The ISM services PMI declined to 52.7 in July from 53.9 in June, versus market expectations of 53.

 

Equities Trading UP

• Upwork Inc. UPWK shares shot up 38% to $13.72 after the company posted upbeat second-quarter results and raised full-year guidance.
• Shares of Vital Farms, Inc. VITL got a boost, shooting 29% to $13.64 following strong quarterly results.
• Traeger, Inc. COOK shares were also up, gaining 39% to $5.74 after the company posted upbeat quarterly results.

 

Equities Trading DOWN

• Aravive, Inc. ARAV shares dropped 71% to $0.3699 after the company's Phase 3 AXLerate-OC trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of batiraxcept in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) in the pre-specified subset of patients naïve to prior bevacizumab treatment.
• Shares of Bio-Path Holdings, Inc. BPTH were down 47% to $0.4019 after the company reported pricing of $2.1 million public offering.
• Vicarious Surgical Inc. RBOT was down, falling 43% to $0.9406 after the company announced pricing of $45 million public offering of 45 million Class A common stock at $1 per share.

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Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 2% to $81.05 while gold traded down 0.1% at $1,974.20.

Silver traded down 0.4% to $23.78 on Thursday while copper rose 1.2% to $3.8880.

 

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.80%, London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.60% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.41% The German DAX declined 1.05% French CAC 40 fell 0.97% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 1.16%.

Producer prices in the Eurozone declined 0.4% month-over-month in June, moving lower for the sixth consecutive month. Producer prices, meanwhile, fell by 3.4% year-over-year in June. The HCOB Eurozone services PMI was revised downward to 50.9 in July versus a preliminary reading of 51.1.

The S&P Global France services PMI fell to 47.1 in July from 48 in June, while UK services PMI fell to 51.5 in July from 53.7 in June. German services PMI rose to 52.3 in July from a preliminary level of 52, while Spain services PMI declined to 52.8 in July from 53.4 in the prior month.

 

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mostly lower on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling 1.68%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.58% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index falling 0.49%. India’s S&P BSE Sensex, meanwhile, fell 0.8%.

The S&P Global Indian services PMI climbed to 62.3 in July from June's reading of 58.5. The Caixin China General services PMI increased to 54.1 in July from 53.9 in June. The au Jibun Bank Japan services PMI fell to 53.8 in July from a final reading of 54.0 in June, while S&P Global Hong Kong SAR PMI fell to 49.4 in July from 50.3 a month ago.

Australia's trade surplus increased to a three-month high of AUD 11.32 billion in June, while retail sales fell by 0.8% month-over-month in June. The Judo Bank Australia services PMI slipped to 47.9 in July from 50.3 in the prior month.

 

Economics

• U.S. initial jobless claims rose by 6,000 from the previous week to 227,000 in the week ending July 29, in line with estimates.
• Nonfarm business sector labor productivity rose 3.7% in the second quarter versus a revised 1.2% decline in the prior quarter.
• Unit labor costs increased by 1.6% in the second quarter following a revised 3.3% rise in the first quarter.
• The S&P Global services PMI fell to 52.3 in July versus a preliminary reading of 52.4.
• U.S. factory orders rose by 2.3% from the prior month to $592 million in June.
• The ISM services PMI declined to 52.7 in July from 53.9 in June.

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COVID-19 Update

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 107,538,610 cases with around 1,169,980 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 44,995,660 cases and 531,910 deaths, while France reported over 40,138,560 COVID-19 cases with 167,640 deaths. In total, there were at least 692,576,570 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with more than 6,903,970 deaths.