General Market Comment
US indices closed mixed on Thursday. Shares in the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (-2.34%), Energy (-1.93%) and Technology Hardware & Equipment (-1.22%) sectors closed lower while shares in the Telecommunication Services (+0.73%), Capital Goods (+0.53%) and Food, Beverage & Tobacco (+0.45%) sectors gained traction. On the economic data front, ADP employment change declined to 163k jobs in August (estimated 200k) from 217k in the previous month. Also, initial jobless claims improved to 203k in week ended September 1st (forecasted 213k) compared to 213k a week earlier. Continuing claims remained relatively unchanged at 1.707M in week ended August 25th (expected 1.72M) from 1.71M the week before. In other news, the Bloomberg consumer comfort index slightly decreased to 58 in week ended September 2nd from 58.3 the week prior. The Markit US services PMI declined to 54.8 in August (estimated 55.2) compared to 55.2 in July while Markit US Composite PMI lowered to 54.7 in August vs. 55 a month earlier. Finally, factory orders decreased by 0.8% in July (forecasted -0.6%) from an increase of 0.6% in June while durable goods orders fell by 1.7% in July, in-line with estimates, from a decline of 1.7% the month prior. The S&P 500 (2,878.05) remains above its 20d moving average (2,867.25 – positive slope) and 50d moving average (2,823.88 – positive slope).