Data from ADP showed an increase of 42,000 private sector jobs in July, the sixth gains in a row. Economy uncertainty and general business climate remain the prime factors behind the weakness in the job market. US data has been somewhat weakening since some of government’s incentives had ended. Hence, market sees more incentives needed to encourage business investment to create more jobs. July’s data beat the consensus of 23,000, while ADP revised June’s number from 13,000 to 19,000. A guide to the government’s nonfarm payroll report due Friday, ADP does not include government workers. NFP data for July is seen to have fallen 60,000 as the private sector is expected to have added 96,000 jobs while the government is seen to have lain off 145,000 temporary Census workers.
Another support came from US service sector when the ISM reported its non-manufacturing index advanced in July to 54.3% from 53.8% in June. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Consensus number expected the index to have fallen to 53.6%. The employment sub-index rose to 50.9, the highest since December 2007. Business activity index fell to 57.4%, new orders sub-index rose 56.7%, and prices sub-index fell to 52.7%.
Dow Jones index settled at 10,680.43 or up 0.41%, Nasdaq Composite went up 20.05 points to end at 2,303.57, and S&P 500 index advanced 6.78 points to 1,127.24.
Among gainers, Motorola was up 5.8% to settle 44 cents higher at $8.06. The rise was triggered by report that investor Carl Icahn recently bought 10.2 million additional shares of Motorola ahead of its plan to split in two. Icahn now holds stake of 9.99% in the company.
Merck gained 37 cents to end at $35.19 after the company reported that its experimental hepatitis C drug went well during clinical trials. The drug, boceprevir is planned to be submitted for regulatory approval in the US and Europe this year.
On upgrades and downgrades front, Microsoft was downgraded to Equal Weight at Global Equities, based on declining Office 2010 attach rates and declining relevance of Windows as more students use Macs. The price target has been set at $25. Elsewhere, AMD was initiated with a NEUTRAL at Sterne Agee.
Another support came from US service sector when the ISM reported its non-manufacturing index advanced in July to 54.3% from 53.8% in June. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Consensus number expected the index to have fallen to 53.6%. The employment sub-index rose to 50.9, the highest since December 2007. Business activity index fell to 57.4%, new orders sub-index rose 56.7%, and prices sub-index fell to 52.7%.
Dow Jones index settled at 10,680.43 or up 0.41%, Nasdaq Composite went up 20.05 points to end at 2,303.57, and S&P 500 index advanced 6.78 points to 1,127.24.
Among gainers, Motorola was up 5.8% to settle 44 cents higher at $8.06. The rise was triggered by report that investor Carl Icahn recently bought 10.2 million additional shares of Motorola ahead of its plan to split in two. Icahn now holds stake of 9.99% in the company.
Merck gained 37 cents to end at $35.19 after the company reported that its experimental hepatitis C drug went well during clinical trials. The drug, boceprevir is planned to be submitted for regulatory approval in the US and Europe this year.
On upgrades and downgrades front, Microsoft was downgraded to Equal Weight at Global Equities, based on declining Office 2010 attach rates and declining relevance of Windows as more students use Macs. The price target has been set at $25. Elsewhere, AMD was initiated with a NEUTRAL at Sterne Agee.
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