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S&P Climbs As Apple Becomes First $1 Trillion Company
02-Aug-18 16:25 ET
Dow -7.66 at 25326.16, Nasdaq +95.40 at 7802.69, S&P +13.86 at 2826.96

https://www.briefing.com/investor/markets/stock-market-update/2018/8/2/s-and-p-climbs-as-apple-becomes-first-1-trillion-company.htm

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market stumbled out of the gate on Thursday due to concerns over U.S.-China trade relations, but found its footing as Apple (AAPL 207.39, +5.89, +2.9%) extended its post-earnings rally, becoming the first company ever to reach a market cap of $1 trillion. The S&P 500 finished higher by 0.5%, erasing an opening loss of around 0.6%.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.2%, coming within 1.7% of its July 25 record high; the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat, weighed down by materials giant DowDuPont (DWDP 66.44, -1.52, -2.2%), which sold off despite reporting upbeat earnings; and the small-cap Russell 2000 added 0.8%.

In other notable earnings news, electric automaker Tesla (TSLA 349.54, +48.70, +16.2%) soared after above-consensus revenues, reaffirmed guidance, and an apology from CEO Elon Musk for last quarter's abrasive earnings call helped overshadow the company's larger-than-expected earnings per share loss of $3.06.

The U.S. equity market was an outlier on Thursday, outdoing Asian and European markets, which finished solidly lower. The weakness overseas -- and in early trading on Wall Street -- was attributed to the White House's confirmation that it's considering raising proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% from 10%.

Separately, in the UK, the Bank of England hiked rates for just the second time in a decade and surprised some by saying it anticipates raising rates further despite the looming uncertainty over Brexit. The British pound dropped 0.8% against the U.S. Dollar following the decision, retesting an 11-month low.

Back on Wall Street, seven of eleven sectors finished in the green, led by information technology (+1.4%) and consumer staples (+1.1%). On the downside, the materials (-0.7%), energy (-0.5%), and real estate (-0.5%) spaces closed at the bottom of the standings, and the heavily-weighted financial space (unch) was another notable laggard.

The S&P 500 once again found technical support at the 2800 level, which provided support on numerous occasions throughout the month of July. The S&P 500 is back in positive territory for the week (+0.3%) going into Friday's session, which will feature the release of the potentially market-moving July jobs report.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data, which was limited to weekly Initial Claims and June Factory Orders:

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 218,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 220,000. Today's tally was above the unrevised prior week count of 217,000. As for continuing claims, they declined to 1.724 million from a revised count of 1.747 million (from 1.745 million).
The key takeaway from the report is that it was little changed, underscoring for market participants that the low level of initial claims activity fits the framework of a tight labor market.
The Factory Orders report for June showed an increase of 0.7% (Briefing.com consensus +0.6%), and the May reading was left unrevised at +0.4%.
The key takeaway from the report is that shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft were weaker than reported in the Advance Durable Goods Orders report. That understanding could lead to a softening in forecasts for the second estimate of Q2 GDP.

On Friday, investors will receive the Employment Situation report for July at 8:30 AM ET, which the Briefing.com consensus expects will show the addition of 190,000 nonfarm payrolls. The June Trade Balance will also be released at 8:30 AM ET, while the ISM Services Index for July will cross the wires at 10:00 AM ET.

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