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Market Snapshot

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Dow 34879.38 -151.69 (-0.43%)
Nasdaq 15248.25 -38.38 (-0.25%)
SP 500 4493.28 -20.79 (-0.46%)
10-yr Note +4/32 1.301
NYSE Adv 1584 Dec 1628 Vol 790.0 mln
Nasdaq Adv 2266 Dec 1973 Vol 3.9 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Financials, Energy, Materials
Weak: Real Estate, Health Care, Consumer Staples

Moving the Market

-- Major indices close slightly lower in tired session

-- Confusing price action within the market

-- Weekly initial and continuing claims continued to improve

S&P 500 extends losing streak to four session
09-Sep-21 16:15 ET
Dow -151.69 at 34879.38, Nasdaq -38.38 at 15248.25, S&P -20.79 at 4493.28

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (-0.5%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.4%), and Nasdaq Composite (-0.3%) closed near session lows with modest losses on Thursday, while the small-cap Russell 2000 (-0.03%) closed relatively unchanged. This was the fourth straight decline for the S&P 500.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished in negative territory, led lower by the real estate (-2.1%) and health care (-1.2%) sectors with losses over 1.0%. The financials (+0.3%), energy (+0.1%), and materials (+0.1%) sectors bucked the negative trend with modest gains.

Relevant news included continued improvement in the weekly initial and continuing claims report, reduced Q3 outlooks from the airlines, and an ECB announcement that emergency asset purchases could be reduced by a moderate pace. Initial claims set another post-pandemic low at 310,000 (Briefing.com consensus 345,000).

None of it moved the market, though. In fact, the airline stocks rallied on the news, longer-dated Treasuries saw increased demand despite the weekly claims data, and financial stocks outperformed despite the subsequent decline in yields. The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS 22.97, +0.43, +1.9%) jumped 2%.

A strong $24 bln 30-year bond auction seemed to have more influence on the Treasury market. The 10-yr yield settled four basis points lower at 1.30% after trading at 1.33% before the results were released at 1:00 p.m. ET. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.21%. The U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.2% to 92.50.

In addition, the energy sector finished higher despite weaker oil prices ($68.18/bbl, -1.14, -1.6%). Evidently, there was some confusing price action in the market, which reflected some of the uncertainty market participants have about where the market is headed.

Lululemon athletica (LULU 420.71, +39.86, +10.5%) provided a clear indication of its business, and it was good. LULU shares rose 10.5% to record highs following its earnings report. RH (RH 725.00, +52.35, +7.8%) was another earnings winner while GameStop (GME 199.18, +0.38, +0.2%) overcame an intraday 10% decline following its report.

Separately, Biogen (BIIB 300.15, -21.40, -6.7%) said its Alzheimer's treatment is seeing a slower launch than initially anticipated. Moderna (MRNA 455.92, +33.02, +7.8%) announced significant advances across its portfolio of mRNA pipeline programs. BIIB shares fell nearly 7.0% while MRNA shares rose nearly 8.0%.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data:

Initial claims for the week ending September 4 decreased by 35,000 to 310,000 (Briefing.com consensus 345,000) from last week's revised level of 345,000 (from 340,000). Continuing claims for the week ending August 28 decreased by 22,000 to 2.783 mln from last week's revised level of 2.805 mln (from 2.748 mln).
The key takeaway from the report is that the overall trend is moving in the right direction, albeit at a slow pace.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the Producer Price Index for August and Wholesale Inventories for July on Friday.

S&P 500 +19.6% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +18.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +14.0% YTD
Russell 2000 +13.9% YTD

Energy sector trades higher despite lower oil prices
09-Sep-21 15:35 ET
Dow -122.90 at 34908.17, Nasdaq -7.05 at 15279.58, S&P -13.82 at 4500.25

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is down 0.4% and on track to close lower for the fourth straight session.

One last look at the sector performances shows health care (-1.0%) and real estate (-1.7%) down at least 1.0% while the financials (+0.4%), energy (+0.2%), and materials (+0.2%) sectors trade slightly higher.

WTI crude futures settled lower by 1.6%, or $1.14, to $68.18/bbl.