(As of 7:40 am pacific)
Stocks edged up slightly as the only economic report of
the day came in positive and investors recovered from yesterday’s disappointing
manufacturing data. The Commerce Department
reported early this morning that US factory orders rose in May for the first
time in 3 months, ahead of expectations.
In corporate news, US retail stocks fell as weekly sales rose at the
slowest pace in 9 weeks during the week ended June 30th. JCPenney, Home Depot, and Lowe’s led the
decline. In Europe, stocks rose for a
second day in a row as expectations continued for the European Central Bank
(ECB) to further cut interest rates on Thursday, which would act as a stimulus
measure for Europe. Commodities soared
across the board on expectations that a central bank rate cut would increase
demand for raw materials. Crude oil
surged 4% to over $87/barrel on geopolitical concerns about Iran and missile
drills that were conducted late Monday. Trading activity is light today as the US
stock market will close at 1:00 pm Eastern today in observance of the 4th
of July holiday. The stock market will
be closed all day tomorrow and trading will resume at normal market hours on
Thursday. We expect a relatively quiet
day in the market with low volatility and look to Thursday’s ECB meeting as the
most important indicator for the outcome of the rest of the week. Happy 4th of July!!!
