Wednesday's Markets Update (June 5, 2024)

05 Jun 2024 by rate3

On Wednesday, stocks surged, with the SP and Nasdaq hitting new ATHs, fueled by positive economic data and a tech rally. On world markets, natural gas prices are rising due to the hot summer. BTC and ETH continue to edge up slowly, with the rest of the crypto market keeping pace.

Details

Business activity jumped in May to a 14-month high, driven by a surge in new orders and growth in both manufacturing and services. Employment stayed flat, and inflation continued to rise. 1Y Trend: "Side" (PMI)
Mortgage applications dropped significantly in May, down 5.2% from the prior week. This extends a downward trend, due to rising interest rates that have been above 7% for two months. Refinancing applications, highly affected by rate changes, saw a steeper decline of 7%. Home purchase applications also dipped by 4%. 1Y Trend: "Down"
Private sector hiring slowed in May, adding only 152K jobs, below expectations. Service industries led growth, while information and business services saw job losses. Manufacturing and mining also declined. Wage growth remained steady, but job-changers saw smaller pay increases. An economist noted a slowdown but said the labor market is still strong. 1Y Trend: "Down" (ADP)
Car sales edged up to 15.91M in May from 15.78M in April. This is still far below the peak of 21.71M sales in October 2001, but above the record low of 8.48M reached in April 2020. 1Y Trend: "Up"

Crypto

Turkey won't tax stock or crypto profits, but is considering a small tax on buying and selling them. This aims to broaden their tax reach, after previously reducing stock market tax to 0%. (source)

World Markets

Eurozone producer prices continued to fall in April, marking the 12th month of decline. The drop of 5.7% was bigger than expected, with energy prices leading the decrease at 14.7%. 1Y Trend: "Up" (EC)
Eurozone economic activity accelerated in May to a 1-year high of 52.2, driven by stronger demand and business optimism. This increase is near the long-term average since 1998. While inflation eased, it remained above pre-pandemic levels. 1Y Trend: "Down" (PMI)
Brazil's business activity grew in May but at a slightly slower pace than April. This is still a strong performance, with the service sector leading the way. Despite some regional weakness and rising costs, sales increased at a near two-year high. 1Y Trend: "Up" (PMI)
Russia's monthly GDP growth compared to previous year rose to 4.40% in April from 4.20% in March. Historically, it averaged 1.74%, with a high of 11.60% in May 2021 and a low of -11.80% in May 2009.

Commodities

Natural gas prices are rising due to hot summer weather expected across the country, especially in Texas and the East Coast. This is pushing prices closer to a 6-month high. Production is high and stockpiles are full, but rising demand and LNG exports are keeping prices up for now. 1Y Trend: "Up"