The markets consolidated today after two days of strong activity to the upside. Gasoline continued to climb, while the dollar softened and the equity indexes treaded water. The S&P 500 Index was down 6 points on the day at 1097.
On the economic front, private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 22,000 in January, the smallest drop since February 2008, and service jobs continued to rise, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll giant ADP Inc. The ADP loss is slightly below the 30,000 drop projected by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The estimated change of employment from November to December 2009 was revised by 23,000, from a decline of 84,000 to a decline of 61,000. The ADP survey tallies only private-sector jobs, which excludes government workers. Additionally, a report from the Institute for Supply Management Wednesday said that its non-manufacturing index moved to 50.5, from 49.8 in December, while the business activity index hit 52.2, from 53.2. The overall index had been expected to hit 51.0. Readings over 50 indicate expanding activity. The report’s details were generally positive. Hiring faced continued headwinds, with that index coming in at 44.6, from December’s 43.6, indicating a slowing rate of contraction. Meanwhile, new orders were higher, with that measure at 54.7, from 52.0.
In the petroleum market, gasoline continued its rally after the Department of Energy releases its weekly inventory report. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 2.3 million barrels from the previous week. At 329.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.3 million barrels last week, and are above the upper limit of the average range.
In the currency markets, the Euro had a somewhat muted response to the EC’s official announcement on the Greek stability plan despite the recovery in the Greek bond markets. The European Commission, as expected, backed the plan but introduced more measures to cut the deficit and introduced a compliance monitoring schedule. The first report is due in mid-March with the second due in mid-May.
