Friends
Well, so much for that good start to May. After yesterday’s decent rally, stocks sold off early and often today as small rallies were met with persistent selling pressure. Weakness in China and the thought that the dollar may have bottomed short term seemed to be part of the problem today, but it appears there was really no more reason for today’s selloff than there was for yesterday’s rally.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 140 points to finish the day at 17,750. The S&P 500 was down 18 points to close at 2063. Gold was down $7 to trade at $1,288 per ounce, while oil was down $1.05 to trade at $43.73 per barrel WTI.
We get the ADP private payroll report tomorrow and the consensus is that about 193,000 new jobs were added to private payrolls in April. The guestimate for Friday’s non-farm payroll number is that about 200,000 new jobs will have been created in April. The actual results will provide the backdrop for the discussion about the Fed’s possible actions/statement/concerns in June. We have enough verification now that corporate earnings are challenged at best. This week we’ll see if the employment picture continues to be sound thus totally confounding the Fed. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
