U.S. Market Averages Extend 4-day Rally, Second Quarter GDP Growth Lowered

Barry Adams
30 Aug, 2023
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street advanced for the fourth day in a row and investors reviewed private sector payrolls and second quarter economic revision data. 

Market sentiment was positive for the fourth day and tech stocks led gainers after investors reviewed the second jobs report in as many days. 

The job market cooling trend reported in the JOLT report by the government was confirmed by the private sector payrolls data Wednesday. 

Private sector payrolls expanded 177,000 in August, sharply lower than and downwardly revised 371,000 in July, the monthly survey released by ADP showed Wednesday.  

ADP monthly data is far less reliable because of its inherent volatility and sharp revisions, but still the report confirmed its cooling job market trend after twelve rate hikes from the Federal Reserve over the last sixteen months. 

Investors also reviewed the downward revision of the second quarter economic growth estimate. 

Despite the recent market gains for the second week in a row, the Nasdaq Composite is down 2.8% in August and the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial are estimated to close down about 2%. 

 

US Q2 GDP Growth Rate Revised Lower 

The second quarter U.S. economic growth was revised lower primarily reflecting adjustments in inventories, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said Wednesday. 

The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized 2.1% in the second quarter, revised from the preliminary rate of 2.4% and down from the first quarter's expansion of 2.0%, the statistical agency said in its second estimate. 

Private inventory investment and nonresidential fixed investment were downwardly revised, and partly offset by an upwardly revised state and local government spending.

 

U.S. Indexes & Yields 

The S&P 500 index traded up 0.1% to 4,402.91 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.03% to 13,948.65. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.84%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 4.10% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 4.23%. 

West Texas Intermediate crude oil and Brent crude oil prices hovered near the levels last seen In April after a larger-than-expected weekly drawdown of weekly crude supplies last week. 

Crude oil decreased $0.61 to $81.77 a barrel and natural gas prices increased 4 cents to $2.70 a thermal unit. 

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company declined 3.2% to $16.29 after the company reported mixed quarterly results. 

Revenue in the fiscal third quarter was $7 billion and adjusted earnings per share was 7 cents.  

HP Inc fell 9.9% to $28.37 after the maker of personal computers and digital devices and systems reported weaker-than-expected fiscal third quarter revenue of $13.2 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 86 cents.  

Insulet Corporation increased 4.8% to $198.91 after chief executive James Hollingshead reported purchasing of 5,500 shares in the medical device maker.  

On Monday, the company announced the launch of the insulin delivery system Omnipod 5 in its third largest market Germany. 

Box Inc dropped 8.9% to $27.77 after the cloud storage company reported mixed quarterly results. 

PVH Corp rose 1% to $80.99 after the owner of several apparel brands including Calvin Klein reported strong quarterly results. 

The apparel maker reported quarterly revenue increased to $2.21 billion and adjusted earnings per share to $1.98. 

The company also lifted its full-year earnings per share and revenue outlook.