U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday for second consecutive day. Market participants appreciated the U.S.-Vietnam trade deal and expectations of a U.S.-India trade deal. On the other hand, a tepid private jobs data and uncertainty about President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” unnerved investors. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite ended at record-high level while the Dow finished in negative territory.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 10.25 points to close at 44,484.42. Notably, 17 components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory and 13 finished in positive zone. The index is currently 1.3% away from its all-time high recorded on Dec 4, 2024.
The major gainer of the index was NIKE Inc. NKE. The stock price of the sports retail behemoth was up 4.1% following the U.S.-Vietnam trade deal. NIKE currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 20,393.13, rising 0.9% or 190.24 points due to strong performance of technology bigwigs. This was a new record-high closing for the index. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% to finish at 6,227.42, marking a new closing-high. In intraday trading, Wall Street’s most observed benchmark posted a new all-time high of 6,227.60.
Seven out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while four in negative zone. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) advanced 1.1%, 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. On the other side, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) fell 1%.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 1.1% to 16.64. A total of 16.95 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 17.82 billion.
Positive Developments on Trade Deals
President Donald Trump said that United States has signed a trade deal with Vietnam through which Vietnamese goods will be subject to 20% U.S. tariffs. Vietnam also agreed that a 40% tariff rate will be levied if goods originated in another country and were transferred to Vietnam for final shipment to the United States. Vietnam was subject to a 46% tariff on President Trump’s reciprocal tariff chart.
President Trump is hopeful that a trade deal between the United States and India could be signed before the July 9 deadline, which ends the 90-dayb pause of tariff imposed by the U.S. administration. India was subject to a 40% tariff on President Trump’s reciprocal tariff chart.
Trump’s Giant Tax and Spending Bill
On July 1, U.S. Senate finally cleared President Trump’s megabill after prolonged negotiations and a series of amendments by a narrow margin. The bill managed to pass through the Senate with a majority of 51-50. Several Republican Senators voted against the bill defying the party line. The final tie-breaking vote was casted by the Vice President JD Vance.
The bill is now headed for the House of Representatives. Last week President Trump pressured the lawmakers to clear the bill to his table by July 4. It is still not clear whether a divided Republican Representatives will pass the bill by the deadline.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that the bill will add more than $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. The U.S. government is currently facing a massive $36.2 trillion of fiscal deficit.
Economic Data
Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP reported that U.S. private sector payrolls contracted unexpectedly by 33,000 in June in contrast to the consensus estimate of a gain of 100,000. Jobs addition in May was also revised downward to 29,000 from 37,000 reported earlier. Professional and business services was the hardest hit sector in June.
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NIKE, Inc. (NKE): Free Stock Analysis Report Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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