U.S. Major Averages Edged Lower On Economic Growth Fears, Job Openings Changed Little

Barry Adams
04 Jun, 2024
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street lacked direction, and benchmark indexes traded down in early trading. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite declined, and the yield on Treasury notes edged slightly lower after weak manufacturing data weighed on the market. 

Moreover, the Federal Reserve is likely to keep rates unrevised in the near future, as the central bank awaits solid evidence of inflation to be on a sustained downward path towards its target rate of 2%. 

In a busy week of economic reports, investors are looking forward to the release of the JOLT, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and factor orders reports today, and the nonfarm payroll update for May is scheduled to be released on Friday. 

The number of job openings changed little, at 8.1 million in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. 

The number of job openings declined by 296,000 from the previous month, the lowest level since February 2021. 

Job openings decreased by 204,000 in healthcare and social assistance, by 59,000 in state and local government education, but increased by 50,000 in private educational services. 

Over the month, both the number of hires and total separations were little changed, at 5.6 million and 5.4 million, respectively.

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.2% to 5,274.14, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 16,785.85. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.80%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.36%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged higher to 4.51%.

Crude oil prices declined for the fifth day in a row on the expectation of rising supply from OPEC+ member nations. 

Over the weekend, the oil-producing nations of OPEC+ announced their plans to keep production cuts until the end of the year in an effort to prevent the price of oil from sliding further. 

WTI crude oil decreased $1.24 to $72.97 a barrel, and natural gas prices fell 0.1 cents to $2.75 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $15.35 to $2,335.06 an ounce, and silver was down 72 cents to $29.99. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.29.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Intel Corp. increased 0.3% to $30.33 after the advanced chip maker announced the release of new artificial intelligence chips as the company played catch with rivals Nvidia and AMD. 

Bath & Body Works declined 7.3% to $48.01 after the personal products and fragrance retailer topped revenue and earnings estimates in the first quarter, but the retailer's current quarter outlook fell short of market expectations.