Stocks Ended Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Friday's Employment Report

Plus 5 Just-Added Strong Buys Stocks Ended Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Friday's Employment Report [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Ended Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Friday's Employment Report [Stocks Ended Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Friday's Employment Report]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed lower on Wednesday in the first post-holiday trading session. The markets were already on the defensive before the FOMC minutes came out yesterday afternoon. And they remained that way afterwards. Nothing surprising. In short, it was clear that another rate hike is likely on the way, as it was shown that 'almost all' officials support more rate hikes this year. In fact, some had hoped for another 25 basis points at June's meeting. But the majority won out and paused, so as to give a little more time to see the impact of their past policy decisions before tightening again. With core inflation remaining persistently high, along with a continuing tight labor market, we could very well see 50 more basis points as Fed Chair, Jerome Powell alluded to after the June announcement. All in all, yesterday's FOMC minutes largely confirmed what we already knew. In other news, yesterday's Motor Vehicle Sales rose to 15.8 million units (annualized) vs. last month's 15.0M and views for 15.3M. And Factory Orders were up 0.3% m/m vs. last month's 0.3% pace, but below the consensus for 0.9%. Today we'll get MBA Mortgage Applications, the International Trade in Goods and Services report, the PMI Composite report, the ISM Services Index, and four jobs reports: Weekly Jobless Claims, the Challenger Job-Cut Report, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report (or JOLTS for short), and the ADP Employment report. But the jobs report everybody is really waiting for is Friday's always important Employment Situation report. A strong report will likely further the Fed's resolve to hike rates again later this month (July 25-26). Although, a strong report will also underscore the narrative that a recession is still a long ways off. A weaker report, however, might do less to impact the former, but maybe more to impact the latter. In the meantime, we'll have plenty of jobs numbers to sift thru today that just may give some foreshadowing to what Friday's report will bring. We'll also hear from OPEC+ today as they wrap up their 2-day meeting in Vienna, Austria. Will it be cuts, or increases, or neither? We'll find out today. Stocks just came off of a fantastic first half. And expectations are high that we'll have a solid second half as well. 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