EQUITY MARKETS
US
S&P500 -0.61%(2,461.43); NASDAQ -1.17% (6,360.19); DJIA -0.86% (21,797.79)
This week’s reports:
- Q2 2017 Non-farm Productivity rose 1.5% from Q1’s +0.9%. Unit Labor Costs rose 0.2% from Q1’s +0.6%.
- July’s Consumer Credit rose $18.5 billion from June’s +$11.8 billion. The increase in credit was led by a surge in non-revolving debt, which rose by $15.9 billion, its biggest rise since October 2016.
- August’s Markit Services PMI fell to 56.0 from July’s 56.9. Composite PMI fell to 55.3 from July’s 56.0.
- August’s ISM Non-Manufacturing rose to 55.3 from July’s 53.9.
- July’s Factory orders fell 3.3% from June’s +3.2%.
- Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending September 1st rose by 52K to 298K. Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ending August 25th fell by 5K to 1,940K.
- US stocks closed lower, finishing a holiday-shortened week with modest losses, as investors traded cautiously ahead of a potential missile test by North Korea and Hurricane Irma’s arrival on the Florida coast over the weekend.