Stocks Up Thursday Morning; Unemployment Rate at 11.1%

First Look

Stocks are higher ahead of Thursday's opening bell. Data out this morning showed the economy added 4.8 million non-farm jobs in June, pushing the unemployment rate down to 11.1%. Initial jobless claims last week were 1.43 million. Neither of those figures reflect recent moves in several large states to halt, or even reverse, reopenings of certain businesses due to rising coronavirus case numbers. The Dow Jones is up 0.99%, the S&P is up 0.77%, the Nasdaq is up 0.6%.

Today's Sentiment

Quote of the Day

Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object.
Hermann Hesse

Stocks on the Move

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), Coty Inc (COTY) and Carnival Corp (CCL) are moving higher this morning, while SL Green Realty Corp (SLG), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY) and Phillips 66 (PSX) are headed lower. Avis Budget Group Inc. (CAR), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while FormFactor, Inc. (FORM), National Grid plc (NGG) and Deutsche Bank AG (DB) were downgraded.

International Markets

Stocks in Asia are up. The Hang Seng is up 2.72%, the Shanghai SE Composite Index is up 2.13%, the Australia ASX All Ordinaries is up 1.68% the Mumbai Sensex is up 1.21% and the Nikkei 225 is up 0.11%. In Europe stocks are up. The DAX is up 1.91%, the Euro Stoxx 50 is up 1.86%, the CAC 40 is up 1.72% and the FTSE 100 is up 0.95%.

Futures & Currencies

Energy futures are up today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.29 at 40.11 per barrel. Brent crude is up 0.37 at 42.4 per barrel. Natural Gas is up 0.03 at 1.7. Precious metals are mixed this morning. Gold is up 1.66 at 1771.75 per ounce. Platinum is down -0.77 at 821.42 while silver is up 0.04 at 18.26. The dollar is down compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is down against the euro, down against the Yen and down against the Pound.

Put/Call Ratio

Yesterday, 1,282,835 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 595,214 put contracts. The single-session put/call ratio was 0.46.

Today's Economic Calendar

Earnings Expected Today