TradeMaster Daily Stock Alerts Blog

Small-cap stocks are expected to open higher, boosted by a better-than-expected figure on non-farm payrolls in this morning’s monthly jobs report. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is expected to open 0.3% higher, which would translate to an open near 716.50.|

The Labor Department’s monthly employment report’s non-farm payroll number came in at minus 51,000, which was better than the consensus forecast for a loss of 75,000, which sparked a modest initial upside push in stock index futures and the U.S. dollar.

Just before the jobs release, S&P 500 futures were basically flat, the dollar was up 0.1% against the euro, while the yield on 10-year notes was off 0.5%. In the minutes immediately after the report, S&P 500 futures were up six handles, the dollar was up 0.4% against the euro, while the 10s yield went to plus 0.1%.
The employment report wasn’t without thorns, however, as the unemployment rate climbed to 5.7% in July, which was above the 5.6% forecast and marked the highest level in more than four years. The tug-of-war between the upside surprise on non-farm payrolls vs. the jobless rate could be an issue throughout the morning, and appeared to pull stocks down from the initial rise on the jobs release.

In large-cap company news, General Motors Corp. (GM) tumbled some 6% in overnight trading after posting dreadful earnings, which included a quarterly loss of $15.5 billion dollars. The woes at GM tend to feed into the overall angst about the economic outlook in the U.S.

Crude oil prices were off more than $1 dollars a barrel, slipping below $122 dollars, which could be a supportive element for equities as the day progresses and as investors start to move past the employment debate.

Looking at the chart picture, The Russell face initial resistance today at 720, then a key test is up at 726. On the downside, support is at 707.50, then at 701. How the market finishes the day after a batch of key economic data this week could be important to forming patterns on weekly studies

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