每日市場點評 --- July 3, 2008

The market finished this shortened pre-holiday trading session in a mixed fashion. The Dow, after officially entering into the bear market territory yesterday, rebounded modestly with a gain of 0.7%. The Nasdaq, dragged by a profit warning from Nvidia, ended the session lower by 0.3%. For the week, the Dow was lower by about 0.5% and the Nasdaq lost 3%. We got some important economic news this morning and the results were quite mixed. Start with the most important economic report of every month – nonfarm payrolls. The number came at -62K, in-line with expectation. The previous month’s figure was revised to -62K as well. Worker’s average hourly wages rose 0.3% while the average work week remained at 33.7 hours. In addition, the unemployment rate held at 5.5% after soaring 0.5% in the previous month. In a related note, the weekly claims came at 404K for the week ending June 28th compared to 385K expected. The continuing claims, on the other hand, decreased 19K to 3.116 million. Finally, the ISM Services index dropped to 48.2 from 51.7 in May. Economists were looking for a modest dip to 51.0. Almost all key components of the ISM Service survey were contracting in the month of June: Business Activity dropped to 49.9 from 53.6; New Orders dropped to 48.6 from 53.6; Employment dropped to 43.8 from 48.7 and Inventories dropped 53.0 from 54.0. Prices, on the other hand, advanced 7.5 points to 84.5.

Energies, despite a new record in crude price, were among the biggest losers for the session. Basic materials and transportations were stabilized following a sharp drop yesterday. On the winner’s side, healthcares were again among the best performers. The CRB commodity index dropped slightly as strengths in energies were offset by other areas. Treasuries were relatively quiet ahead of tomorrow’s holiday. The US dollar were higher against most major currencies as statements following the ECB rate hike were more dovish than some had expected. The VIX index dropped back under 25 while the market breath was modestly negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq.