Stock markets started a historically strong month on a positive note, with investors anticipating several key events scheduled for the holiday-shortened week. As a reminder, stock and bond markets will close early Wednesday and remain closed Thursday for the July 4 holiday.
Even though the markets are closed this week for a day and a half, there is a economic calendar for people to review. Today's data includes the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)which fell to 48.5% in June from 48.7% in May. Values below 50% indicate a contraction and this is the 19th month out of 20 where the index is below 50.
“Manufacturing is a weak point in the economy in 2024,” says Bill AdamsComerica Bank chief economist. “The Fed wants the economy to continue to run at a slow pace in the near term. It sees the continued slowdown in manufacturing as contributing to its goal of reducing inflation.”
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Tomorrow, market participants will receive the latest job openings data and scan Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's morning address. Most notable, however, is the next jobs reportwhich is scheduled for release before the opening on Friday.
M&A Monday was in full swing
Meanwhile, in the news of individual actions, Boeing (BA, +2.6%) made headlines after the aerospace company announced its purchase fuselage manufacturer Spirit Aerodynamic Systems (SPR, +3.4%) for approximately $4.7 billion in stock, or $37.25 per SPR share.
The merger of the two aerospace companies “is a necessary step for a number of stakeholders to have confidence in the improvement of the quality and safety of the MAX,” said an analyst at UBS Global Research. Gavin Parsons (Buy) said in a recent note to clients.
Peter McNallyAccording to McNally, global head of analysts at Third Bridge, this solution won’t provide Boeing with a silver bullet. “A lot of the challenges Spirit has faced have been a lack of skilled labor, which Boeing has struggled with for years,” he says. While the logic of supply chain integration makes sense, he adds, “the reality may be more challenging, as Boeing has struggled with challenges in its own manufacturing and assembly operations.”
Black rock (BLK, -0.6%) was also in the M&A spotlight after the world's largest asset manager announced it would acquire private markets data provider Preqin for about $3.2 billion in cash.
“The combination of Preqin with Aladdin and eFront will enable BLK to integrate private markets investment workflows with proprietary data that touches all aspects of private markets, including fundraising, deal sourcing, portfolio monitoring, accounting and performance,” the Jefferies analyst said. Daniel Fannon (Buy).
Tesla surges after Nio's strong deliveries update
However, it was the rise in several mega-cap stocks that really fueled gains in the major indices. You're here (TSLA), for its part, rose 6.1% – gaining nearly $38 billion in market value in the process – ahead of the electric vehicle maker's monthly and quarterly deliveries report, which is due out tomorrow morning.
Earlier today, another electric vehicle maker Nio (NIO, +6.7%) said June Deliveries The number of vehicles delivered nearly doubled from the previous year, reaching 21,209. The company also revealed that it delivered 57,373 vehicles in the second quarter, an increase of 144% compared to the same period last year.
Several Tesla colleagues Magnificent 7 actions also closed higher on the day, including Apple (AAPL, +2.9%), Amazon (AMZN, +2.0%) and Nvidia (NVDA, +0.6%).
As a result, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.8% to 17,879 and the S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 5,475. Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.1% at 39,169.
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