Friends
Stocks drifted in decidedly negative territory for just about all of today’s trading session until a small recovery kicked in during the last hour of trading. There was very little in the way of any news catalysts (although auto sales were a bit disappointing, as was the ISM manufacturing number) as traders wait for tomorrow’s non-farm payroll number.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Index was up 18 points to finish the day at 18,419. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged to close at 2,170. Gold was up $6 to trade at $1,317 per ounce, while oil was down another $1.20 to trade at $43.50 per barrel WTI.
As mentioned, market participants will turn their attention to tomorrow’s jobs report. Guestimates are for 175,000 to 180,000 new jobs to have been created in August. If the number comes in hotter than that the Fed might be emboldened to raise rates in September, but let’s wait to see the number before we put the cart before the horse. We’ll let you know how it all plays out tomorrow.
Have a nice evening everyone.
