Stock market today: Wall Street quiet ahead of consumer, labor reports

By YURI KAGEYAMA and MATT OTT
AP Business Writers

Wall Street was quiet early Tuesday ahead of some potentially market-moving jobs data and a survey reflecting consumers’ feelings about the economy.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 both inched down about 0.1% before the bell.

Investors and economists this week will be paying close attention to economic reports that could shed more light on whether the job market remains hot and inflation is still cooling. The latest data could provide more clues about whether the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady or raise them again before the year closes.

Wall Street will get an update Tuesday on consumer confidence, which jumped sharply in July and is expected to remain strong in August.

Also Tuesday, the government will issue its July report on job openings, with its broader jobs report for August coming on Friday. The job market is being closely watched because it has remained strong amid high inflation. Part of the Fed’s goal in its interest rate raising campaign was to cool — or “loosen” — the labor market, but so far that hasn’t happened.

Investors and economists will be focusing closely on the government’s latest inflation update on Thursday. The report on personal consumption and expenditures is the Fed’s preferred measure as it tries to rein inflation back to 2%.

In its attempt to grind down inflation over the past year-and-a-half, the Fed has raised its benchmark borrowing rate 11 times to the highest level in more than two decades. The Fed held rates steady at its last meeting, but hasn’t ruled out future rate hikes to fight persistent inflation.

Wall Street is betting that the Fed will hold rates steady again at its September meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. Bets are nearly evenly split, though, on whether it will raise rates one more time before 2023 closes.

In equities trading, Best Buy shares rose a little more than 1% after the retailer beat Wall Street’s second-quarter targets even as profit and sales declined from a year ago. That’s been a consistent theme for retailers this quarter, as many have beaten modest expectations while reporting declining sales as consumers tighten their budgets.

Health stocks were mixed Tuesday after President Joe Biden’s administration released a list of 10 drugs for which the federal government will take a first-ever step: negotiating drug prices directly with the manufacturer.

The diabetes treatments Jardiance from Eli Lilly and Co. and Merck’s Januvia made the list, along with Amgen’s autoimmune disease treatment Enbrel. Other drugs include Entresto from Novartis, which is used to treat heart failure.

Markets are hoping to scratch out more gains before the end of the month after rebounding last week week for their first winning week in what’s been a brutal August for stocks in an otherwise gangbuster year.

Elsewhere, Asian markets got a perk from signs China-U.S. relations may be improving, as the nations agreed to work together to smooth out economic relations, including business and trade.

“This sounds more like the kind of pragmatic and decisive breakthrough that is required. The proof will be in the pudding and only time will tell, but markets are correct to respond favorably to these developments,” said Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said she and her Chinese counterpart agreed Monday to exchange information on U.S. export controls and set up a group to discuss other commercial issues. That signals possible hopes about bilateral communication, but various conflicts remain, including over technology, security and human rights.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% to finish at 32,226.97.

Toyota shares dropped after all its auto assembly lines at its plants in Japan, or 28 lines in 14 plants, were shut down over a problem in its computer system that deals with incoming auto parts. Toyota stock finished 0.2% lower.

Toyota spokeswoman Sawako Takeda said the company does not think the problem is from a cyberattack, but the cause was still under investigation. It’s unclear when the lines would be back up. Toyota declined to specify which models would be affected by the stoppages.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7% to 7,210.50. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.3% to 2,552.16. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.0% to 18,484.03, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.2% to 3,135.89.

In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX each added about 0.3%, Britain’s FTSE 100 surged 1.5%.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 53 cents to $80.63 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 58 cents to $84.45 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 147.25 Japanese yen from 146.54 yen. The euro cost $1.0792, down from $1.0823.

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Kageyama reported from Tokyo; Ott reported from Silver Spring, Md.