Opening Comment — Thursday, August 06, 2026
DJIA: 54,349.12, up 263.24
S&P 500: 7,723.55, down 12.97
NASDAQ: 26,363.44, down 221.55
Stocks mixed before labor market updates
Stock futures are mixed Thursday morning as investors continue awaiting details on a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz. Market participants are also looking forward to labor market data, including today’s update on unemployment claims and the preliminary readings of second quarter nonfarm productivity growth and unit labor costs, as well as looking ahead to tomorrow’s July jobs report. As of 7:30 AM ET, the Dow is rising 0.3%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is falling 0.4% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Wednesday as the Automatic Data Processing National Employment Report for July showed private payrolls increasing by 44,000, below expectations. The Institute for Supply Management’s services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for July rose slightly to 54.1, falling short of expectations, while the prices paid component unexpectedly increased to 70.3. Meanwhile, S&P Global’s finalized services and composite PMIs for July were both revised slightly upward to 54.6 and 54.5, respectively. The Dow was up 0.5% and reached a new record closing level of 54349.12, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8%. The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% with five of 11 sectors finishing in negative territory. The Materials sector was the top performer, rising 1.5%, while the Communication Services sector was the bottom performer, falling 2.4%.
On the data front, the Challenger Report on job cuts for July showed a decline of 46.1% year-over-year (YOY) compared to prior month’s decrease of 4.5%. Preliminary second-quarter nonfarm productivity growth is expected to come in at 0.6% quarter-over-quarter, versus the prior quarter’s increase of 0.3%, while unit labor costs are forecasted to have increased at an annualized 2.1% pace, following an annualized 1.8% increase in the prior quarter. Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 1 are expected to come in at 205,000, higher than the prior week’s 197,000, while continuing jobless claims for the week ending July 25 are projected to come in at 1.789 million, slightly higher than the prior week’s 1.782 million. The finalized June reading of wholesale inventories is expected to show an increase of 0.3% month-over-month (MOM), unchanged from the preliminary reading.
Across the pond, European stocks are higher in mid-day trading as Germany’s June factory orders rose 3.1% MOM, well above expectations. Meanwhile, eurozone retail sales unexpectedly declined 0.3% MOM in June and slowed more than anticipated to 0.7% YOY. Additionally, Germany’s July S&P Global construction PMI decreased to 42.1, while the eurozone construction PMI advanced to 44.7.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mixed as Australia unexpectedly registered a trade surplus in June, following exports increasing 9.6% MOM and imports declining 0.2% MOM. Meanwhile, South Korea’s current account surplus widened in June on a balance-of-payments basis.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is slightly higher ahead of today’s U.S. labor market data.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 1.1% higher at $76.02/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.6% higher at $4,272.31/ounce despite a strengthening U.S. dollar.