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In Hong Kong, a man wearing a mask passes past an electronic board showing the Hong Kong stock index. Following Wall Street’s lead, Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday as US services activity slowed.
AP
In lunchtime trading on Wednesday, US stocks were higher and long-term bond yields were lower ahead of the release of the Fed minutes. The
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index that measures how well
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 83 points, or 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 Index gained 0.2 percent.
S&P 500 Index
increased by 0.3 percent, and the
The Nasdaq Composite Index
It increased by approximately 0.2 percent. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 3 basis points, or tenths of a percentage point, to 1.31 percent. 10-year rates are down 11 basis points this week.
After statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that fewer people quit their jobs in May, and an increase in job vacancies that experts predicted failed to materialize, investors are waiting for the minutes of the next Federal Open Market Committee. Before taking steps toward tightening policy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that policymakers were hoping for “substantial further progress” toward a labor-market recovery, and investors have been attempting to figure out what that progress might involve. In a note published Wednesday, Gene Tannuzzo, global head of fixed income at Columbia Threadneedle Investors, said, “If the Fed is becoming more comfortable with the progress the employment market has already achieved, this might startle the market into thinking rates should be higher.” While earnings season is approaching and expectations are high, “we can’t ignore the bond market and equity market concentration in growth stocks – if bonds find more bid and the 10-year pushes even lower to 1%, then the stock market can keep gliding higher,” according to Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, in a note to clients. Asian stocks ended mixed, with China’s CSI 300 index climbing 1.1 percent, however technology stocks such as Alibaba and Baidu remained under pressure due to the government’s crackdown on internet firms. Didi Global, a publicly traded firm in the United States, had its stock plummet Tuesday after it was ordered to cease signing up new users and remove its app from online stores while it improves customer security. Shares of Full Truck Alliance and Kanzhun fell on Tuesday after news of cybersecurity probes into other Chinese U.S.-listed companies.
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The
The Stoxx Europe 600 index is a stock market index that measures the performance of
Even after a relatively lower session on Wall Street on Tuesday, rose 0.8 percent. The European Union raised its growth forecasts for 2021 and 2022 on Wednesday, noting effective Covid-19 containment tactics and immunization advancements as reasons for the uptick. Following the failure of discussions between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners over disputes on raising output, crude benchmarks extended their losses from Tuesday, reaching levels last seen in 2014. In noon trading, West Texas crude oil was down 2.2 percent, while Brent crude was down 1.9 percent.
Didi Global is a company based in China.
(ticker: DIDI) is down 6.9% one day after losing 20% after Chinese officials ordered it to be removed from the country’s app stores. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was likewise critical of the firm.
AMC Entertainment is a company that produces movies.
(AMC) is down 8.4% after falling 3.9 percent the day before. This puts them on track for their fourth straight loss, which would be their longest skid since April.
Oasis Petroleum is a company that produces petroleum.
(OAS) gained 1.2 percent after RBC Capital upgraded it to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Boston Beer is brewed in Boston, Massachusetts.
(SAM) gained 2.6 percent after Credit Suisse upgraded it to Outperform from Neutral.
Sunnova Energy International is a company that specializes in renewable energy.
(NOVA) has risen 0.3 percent since Raymond James upgraded it from Outperform to Strong Buy.
Masco
(MAS) has lost about 0.5 percent since JPMorgan downgraded it to Underweight from Neutral. Alexandra Scaggs and Ben Levisohn can be reached at alexandra.scaggs@barrons.com and ben.levisohn@barrons.com, respectively./n
