US markets end mostly higher on Wednesday

02 Jul 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday, after drug giant Pfizer and German biotech company BioNTech announced positive data from an early-stage human trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine. The companies said the most advanced of four investigational vaccine candidates was generally well tolerated and produced neutralizing antibodies. Further, market participants parsed minutes from the Fed’s June 9-10 meeting, where the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee agreed to provide clarity in future communications about what would cause the central bank to keep rates close to zero or move them higher. The committee kept federal-funds rates at a range between 0% and 0.25% and signaled that it might hold levels there until at least 2022.

Adding to positive sentiment on markets, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released a report showing US manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded in the month of June. The ISM said its purchasing managers index jumped to 52.6 in June from 43.1 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating an expansion in manufacturing activity. Street had expected the index to climb to 49.5, which have still indicated a modest contraction in manufacturing activity. A separate report released by payroll processor ADP showed a significant increase in private sector employment in the month of June as well as a substantial upward revision to the data for May. ADP said private sector employment jumped by 2.369 million jobs in June, which was below street estimates for a spike of about 3.000 million jobs. However, revised data showed private sector employment soared by 3.065 million jobs in May compared to the previously reported loss of 2.760 million jobs.

Nasdaq rose 95.86 points or 0.95 percent 10,154.63 and S&P 500 was up by 15.57 points or 0.5 percent to 3,115.86, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 77.91 points or 0.3 percent to 25,734.97.

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