Jobs, Services Data Lead to Green Markets

Wednesday, June 5th, 2024

Markets were up across major indices today. They started the session higher after a favorably cooler private-sector jobs report from Automatic Data Processing (ADP – Free Report) , and basically set on cruise control throughout the day tilted slightly higher, closing at or near session highs. The Dow, which had picked up more significant gains earlier in the week, was up +96 points, or +0.25%, but the Nasdaq roared ahead +329 points, +1.95% for the day. The S&P 500 and Russell 2000 closed the session up +1.18% and +1.31%, respectively.

During the course of the trading day, we also saw some other economic indicators. ISM Services PMI for May for came in nicely ahead of expectations — +53.8% versus +50.7% — and back over the 50 threshold indicating growth from an unrevised +49.4% the previous month. This marks the 46th higher ISM Services report in the past 48 months. Its Business Activity Index came in at a buoyant +61.2%, while its Employment Index ratcheted down for the fifth month in six to +47.1%. This combination of enterprise engagement and a subtle planing of labor force is the stuff a “soft landing” is made of.

S&P Services PMI, also for May, was solid. It’s +54.8 was in-line with both estimates and the unrevised prior month tally. It also saw a healthy enterprise side coupled with a quietly diminished employment scenario, with output growth hitting a one-year high while employees exiting the field and not being replaced slimmed the labor force margins. S&P saw renewed expansion for new orders offset by another month lower on new export orders, suggesting perhaps the U.S. services sector is a bit too rich for the rest of the world at this point.

lululemon athletica (LULU – Free Report) shares are up big on its Q1 earnings beat. Q1 earnings of $2.54 per share amounted to a 16-cent jump over the Zacks consensus, and an even bigger move above the $2.28 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $2.21 billion in the quarter notched a slight beat over expectations but grew +10.5% year over year. Guidance, while a tad weak for the upcoming quarter, jumped much higher on earnings projections for the full year, helping LULU gain +12% in late trading on the news.

Five Below (FIVE – Free Report) , on the other hand, is down -16% after posting its Q1 report. The youth-oriented value retailer missed on both top and bottom lines — earnings of 57 cents per share on sales of $811.9 million were shy of the 62 cents and $831.5 million in the Zacks consensus — while also projecting lower numbers on the revenue side for both the upcoming quarter and full year. Free cash flow and same-store sales were also notably down in the quarter.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll see results from Weekly Jobless Claims. This will be the latest installment of Jobs Week, which has thus far behaved quite well for an economy looking to gently slide into a soft landing. Friday’s non-farm payrolls from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will be the biggest number of the week, however. Thursday morning also ushers in a new Trade Deficit for April and the final revision on Q1 Productivity.

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