The stock market rally rebounded this past week, with the major indexes running to or just above key resistance, adding to gains Friday intraday despite a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The uptrend remains "under pressure." Treasury yields, which plunged on Tuesday, rebounded the rest of the week, but with the yield curve inverted. Crude oil, gasoline and copper futures bounced back late in the week after huge losses in recent days and weeks.
Stock Market Rally Runs To Resistance
After selling off in the prior week, the Nasdaq led the major indexes higher toward the 10-week line, an area where the market has hit resistance in the past. Volume declined on the upswing however, while the market paused on Friday's strong jobs report. Commodity prices sold off but then bounced back somewhat. So did Treasury yields, as investors swing between recession and inflation concerns.
Jobs Report Still Strong
Employers added 372,000 jobs, about 100,000 more than expected, the Labor Department said. Wage growth eased further, to 5.1% from 5.2%. But wage growth held at 6.4% among production and nonsupervisory workers. The Labor Department's separate household survey had a softer tone, though the survey carries a higher margin of error. The ranks of the employed fell by 315,000, but the jobless rate held steady at 3.6% because 353,000 people exited the labor force. The Fed wants to see an expanding labor force, not a shrinking one. Meanwhile, job openings at the end of May fell to 11.25 million from 11.681 million a month earlier. New claims for jobless benefits rose 4,000 to a nearly six-month high 235,000 in the July 2 week.
Tesla To Open Supercharger Network?
Tesla will begin making equipment that will let non-Tesla EV drivers in North America use its Superchargers, according to a White House memo. CEO Elon Musk has talked about opening up Superchargers to non-Tesla vehicles, and has done so in the Netherlands. But that could increase wait times, while reducing Tesla's "moat" vs. rival EV makers. Meanwhile, Tesla sold 78,906 China-made vehicles in June, a record, up 138% vs. a year earlier and 145% vs. May, the China Passenger Car Association reported. Also, the NHTSA opened two new probes of fatal Tesla crashes that may have involved Autopilot.
In Brief
GameStop announced plans for a 4-for-1 stock split Wednesday night. A day later, the mall-based video game retailer said its CFO is leaving as it announced layoffs. The original meme stock jumped 15% on Thursday, then fell solidly on Friday.
Twitter fell Friday after the Washington Post reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk's Twitter deal is in "serious jeopardy," citing sources. The social site reiterated Thursday that it stands by its estimate that 5% of accounts are bots, but Musk apparently isn't satisfied. He's also reportedly struggling to line up financing for the $44 billion, $54.20-a-share deal.
Valero Energy authorized a $2.5 billion stock buyback.
Spirit Airlines once again delayed a shareholder vote with low-cost rival Frontier Airlines, citing ongoing talks with JetBlue.
Upstart sees preliminary Q2 revenue at $228 million vs. its prior target for $295 million to $305 million. It also expects a wider net loss. Shares plunged Friday.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it bought an additional 12 million Occidental Petroleum shares this week, for a total of 175 million shares, an 18.6% stake.
Amazon entered into a partnership with the parent of Grubhub, a move that pushed down shares of Uber and DoorDash.
