Opening Comment — Thursday, May 07, 2026
DJIA: 49,910.59, up 612.34
S&P 500: 7,365.12, up 105.90
NASDAQ: 25,838.94, up 512.81
Stocks higher before initial claims data
Stock futures are mostly higher Thursday morning as markets continue to await news on a potential end to the Iran war. Investors are also anticipating today’s economic releases, including weekly initial and continuing jobless claims, March consumer credit, and preliminary first-quarter data on nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs, along with a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) commentary. As of 7:20 AM ET, the Dow and the S&P 500 Index are both rising 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 is little changed relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were higher on Wednesday following optimism over the potential for a U.S.-Iran peace deal. The ADP National Employment Report showed private payroll growth for April of 109,000, short of expectations. The Dow was up 1.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.0% and hit a new record closing level of 25838.94. The S&P 500 increased 1.5% and set a new record closing level of 7365.12, with nine of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Industrials sector was the top performer, rising 2.6%, while the Energy sector was the bottom performer, falling 4.1%.
On the data front, the Challenger Report for April showed job cuts rising more than expected, though still down 20.9% year-over-year (YOY) compared to prior month’s sharp decline of 78.0%. Preliminary first-quarter nonfarm productivity growth is expected to come in at 0.6% quarter-over-quarter (QOQ), versus the prior quarter’s increase of 1.8%, while unit labor costs are forecasted to have increased at an annualized 2.5% pace, following an annualized 4.4% increase in the prior quarter. Initial jobless claims for the week ending May 2 are expected to normalize to 205,000 from the prior week’s unexpectedly low 189,000, while continuing claims are expected to rise to 1.80 million for the week ending April 25 from the prior week’s 1.79 million. March’s construction spending is expected to have increased 0.2% month-over-month (MOM). The New York Fed will release their April Survey of Consumer Expectations, with the measure of one-year inflation expectations projected to come in at 3.50% from the prior month’s 3.42%. Consumer credit is expected to have expanded by $13.7 billion in March, more than the prior month’s increase of $9.5 billion.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly lower in mid-day trading as German factory orders recorded a greater than expected increase, rising by 5.0% MOM and 6.3% YOY in March. Meanwhile, France’s trade deficit widened in March, while its current account deficit narrowed. The country’s first-quarter wage growth preliminarily rose to 0.7% QOQ, up from 0.2% in the previous quarter. The construction purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) for both the U.K. and Germany declined in April, falling to 39.7 and 42.1, respectively. The eurozone’s retail sales declined less than expected, falling by 0.1% MOM in March, while rising by 1.2% YOY, matching expectations.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were mostly higher as Australia unexpectedly registered a trade deficit in March, following imports rising 14.1% MOM and exports falling 2.7% MOM. Meanwhile, Japan’s monetary base declined 11.3% YOY in April.
In FOREX trading, the U.S. dollar is lower following the Norwegian central bank increasing their policy rate by 25 basis points (0.25%) to 4.25%, while Sweden’s central bank left their policy rate unchanged at 1.75%.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 2.1% lower at $93.05/barrel.
In the metals complex, gold is 1.0% higher at $4,737.39/ounce following a weakening U.S. dollar.