US open: Stocks higher as traders digest June NFP report

(Sharecast News) - Major indices were firmly in the green at the open on Thursday as market participants digested key employment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.92% at 52,787.61, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.73% to 7,538.09 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 0.71% firmer at 26,224.76.

The Dow opened 482.37 points higher on Thursday, easily reversing modest losses recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's primary focus looked set to be news that the US economy added just 57,000 jobs in June, well below the downwardly revised 129,000 recorded in May and short of forecasts for 110,000, marking the weakest gain in four months. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hiring continued to trend higher in professional and business services, up by 36,000, while the social assistance and health care sectors added 25,000 and 22,000 jobs, respectively.

Employment in leisure and hospitality fell sharply, down 61,000, reflecting softerthanusual seasonal hiring and likely some impact from the World Cup. Payrolls showed little or no change across most other major industries, including mining, construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, financial activities and government. Revisions subtracted 74,000 jobs from the combined April and May totals. The unemployment rate, on the other hand, fell to 4.2%, down from 4.3% but still slightly ahead of the 4.1% level seen at the same time a year earlier.

Treasury yields retreated following the NFP report as the data left investors firm in their belief that the Federal Reserve will now look at holding off from making any interest rate hikes under these conditions.

Elsewhere on the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 27 June, according to the Labor Department, with initial jobless claims dropping by 1,000 to 220,000. Continuing claims, on the other hand, rose by 2,000 to 1.81m, while the four week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, decreased by 2,500 to 222,000. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ended 20 June, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.

In the corporate space, Europe's top court upheld Google's �4.1bn fine for anticompetitive practices linked to its Android mobile operating system on Thursday. The European Commission imposed the penalty in 2018, arguing that Google parent company Alphabet had abused its dominance in mobile software by requiring smartphone makers to preinstall its apps, giving the company an unfair advantage. Google appealed through the EU courts, but the European Court of Justice dismissed the challenge, confirming the reduced �4.1bn figure set by a lower court in 2022, down from the original �4.34bn.

No major earnings were slated for release on Thursday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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Nike Inc. (NKE) $44.52 3.53%

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $27.89 3.18%

Boeing Co. (BA) $225.85 2.67%

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $387.02 2.23%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $42.78 1.99%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $300.87 1.96%

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $165.98 1.84%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $168.57 1.45%

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $150.03 1.40%

Visa Inc. (V) $354.99 1.15%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $126.61 -5.50%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $980.09 -0.39%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $115.16 -0.24%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $334.16 0.01%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $351.55 0.04%

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $427.06 0.08%

3M Co. (MMM) $160.45 0.11%

S&P 500 - Risers

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $42.18 7.42%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $183.00 6.21%

Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $84.49 5.59%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $188.32 5.03%

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company (WTW) $279.38 4.83%

CME Group Inc. (CME) $234.05 4.71%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $217.89 4.45%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.13 4.09%

Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $186.09 4.04%

Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) $52.80 3.98%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Coterra Energy Inc. (CTRA) $32.56 -8.62%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $256.84 -8.14%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $126.61 -5.50%

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $65.55 -5.26%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $532.80 -5.16%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $634.62 -5.10%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $384.00 -4.97%

Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $113.06 -3.32%

Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) $172.39 -2.88%

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) $1,016.97 -2.57%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $42.18 7.42%

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $183.00 6.21%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $188.32 5.03%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $217.89 4.45%

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.13 4.09%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $75.58 3.81%

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $30.11 3.63%

Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $25.35 3.36%

Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $26.30 3.12%

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $239.05 2.78%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.34 -13.49%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $256.84 -8.14%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $126.61 -5.50%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $634.62 -5.10%

Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $384.00 -4.97%

Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $1,831.08 -4.22%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $139.44 -2.45%

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $23.85 -2.34%

Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $114.54 -1.85%

Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $378.62 -0.93%