Stocks ended Thursday's session slightly lower as market participants looked for direction before May's jobs report on Friday as benchmarks held near record highs. Rallies in cyclicals and better-than-expected labor market data helped to buoy sentiment, while geopolitical concerns kept risky trading at bay.
Meanwhile, 'meme' stocks like AMC Entertainment
Here's how Wall Street settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Russia to remove U.S. dollar from National Wealth Fund:
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announce at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday that Russia is cutting the U.S. dollar for tis $186 billion National Wealth Fund, choosing to invest instead in euro, Chinese yuan and gold assets. Moscow's decision follows continued sanctions from the United States.
Once the changes are completed, which is expected next month, the share of euro assets in the fund is expected to total 40%, 30% for the yuan, and 20% for gold, according to CNBC. Moveover, the Japanese yen and British pound will each make up about 5%.
Service sector expansion hits record high in May:
The Institute for Supply Management's Services Purchasing Managers' Index reading for the month of May increased by a more-than-expected 64.0 from 62.7 in April, marking the highest level on record. Readings above the neutral level of 50.0 indicate expansion in the sector.
"The rate of expansion is very strong, as businesses have reopened and production capacity has increased," ISM Chair Anthony Nieves said in a press release. "However, some capacity constraints, material shortages, weather-related delays, and challenges in logistics and employment resources continue."
Here's how the market opened on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index: -0.51% or -21.34 points to 4,186.78
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.42% or -144.36 points to 34,456.02
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.80% or -110.49 points to 13,645.83
New jobless claims fall more than expected to new pandemic low:
Weekly new unemployment claims continued to fall to fresh pandemic-era lows this past week, totaling 385,000 for the week ended May 29, according to the Labor Department's Thursday report. This was below expectations and the previous week's downwardly revised total of 405,000 jobless claims.
However, continuing jobless claims totaled a more-than-expected 3.771 million for the week ended May 22, which was above the prior week's total of 3.602 million.
Private payrolls surged in May, topping estimates:
U.S. private payrolls rose far more than expected in May, according to ADP's monthly jobs report released on Thursday, with employers adding 978,000 payrolls compared to the 650,000 expected by Bloomberg consensus. May's total follows a downwardly revised rise of 654,000 in April.
By sector, service employers added the most jobs by far last month at a net total of 850,000. Leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 440,000, and education and health services employment rose by 139,000 in May, while trade, transportation and utilities jobs added another 118,000. Information industry employers were the only ones to downsize last month, with the sector losing 3,000 positions.
