Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages have rebounded from session lows, with the Nasdaq Composite (+0.2%) and S&P 500 (+0.1%) posting modest gains, while the DJIA still sits below its baseline. 

Five S&P 500 sectors trade in positive territory, with the communication services (+0.6%) and consumer discretionary (+0.4%) sectors leading the rebound effort. 

Saint Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem (FOMC voting member) said in a CNBC interview that he will go into the September meeting with an open mind, though the data does not currently reflect the need for a 50 basis-point rate cut.

Mr. Musalem said that inflation is running at about 3%, which is about 1% higher than the 2% target, and while tariffs are feeding through the system, he expects most of the impacts of tariffs to fade after two to three quarters. 

There have been signs the labor market is weakening, with payroll growth slowing, though he is not hearing from businesses that they are preparing to lay off workers.

As reported earlier, initial jobless claims for the week ending August 9 decreased by 3,000 to 224,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 228,000). Continuing jobless claims for the week ending August 2 decreased by 15,000 to 1.953 million. The key takeaway from the report is still the same. Layoffs are low, but finding a new job, if laid off, is taking longer.