Nasdaq Reaches New Record Intraday High But Dow Edges Lower

Stocks are mostly higher in morning trading on Wednesday, although buying interest has remained somewhat subdued. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq has risen to a new record high, the Dow has edged lower on the day.

Currently, the major averages are turning in a mixed performance. The Dow is down 49.10 points or 0.1 percent at 35,311.63, but the Nasdaq is up 107.82 points or 0.7 percent at 15,367.05 and the S&P 500 is up 9.08 points or 0.2 percent at 4,531.76.

The modest strength on Wall Street comes after the major averages ended the previous session slightly lower, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 edging down off from Monday’s record closing highs.

Trading activity remains relatively light, however, as traders continue to look ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 750,000 jobs in August after surging by 943,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to dip to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent.

Meanwhile, traders have largely shrugged off a report from payroll processor ADP showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of August.

ADP said private sector employment climbed by 374,000 jobs in August after rising by a downwardly revised 326,000 jobs in July.

Economists had expected employment to jump by 613,000 jobs compared to the addition of 330,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

“The Delta variant of COVID-19 appears to have dented the job market recovery,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “Job growth remains strong, but well off the pace of recent months.”

A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly grew at a slightly faster rate in the month of August.

The ISM said its manufacturing PMI inched up to 59.9 in August from 59.5 in July, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. The uptick surprised economists, who had expected the index to dip to 58.6.

Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves on the day, although some strength is visible among interest rate-sensitive utilities and commercial real estate stocks.

On the other hand, banking and resource stocks have shown notable moves to the downside over the course of the morning.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed by 0.7 percent.

Most European stocks have also moved to the upside on the day. The French CAC 40 Index has surged up by 1.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent, although the German DAX Index has bucked the uptrend and edged down by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the morning. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 1.305 percent.