The market continued to decline on Friday although the losses were trimmed significantly towards the close. Earlier, the Dow was off by more than 150 points due to poor non-farm payrolls report for July. The figure showed a decline of 131K jobs, worse than -87K expected. Even worse, the prior month's figure was revised downward by almost 100K. The unemployment rate remained at 9.5% while hourly earnings inched up a little.
 
Most major sectors finished the session lower led by energy and financials. The CRB commodity index dropped 1.1%. The US dollar was mixed against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 41bps. The VIX index dropped less than 1 point. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the light side.

The market declined modestly on Thursday. The economic news for the session was weaker than expected. Initial jobless claims for the latest week came in at 479K, worse than 455K expected. Trading activities continued to be extremely light with less than 900 million shares changed hands on NYSE. The dollar dipped 0.2% while the yen closed near its best levels for the year.
 
Most major sectors finished the session little changed. The CRB commodity index declined 0.5%. The US dollar was mixed against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index dropped less than 1 point. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the light side.

The market regained the ground lost in the previous session. Better than expected economic data were the main reason behind today's strength. The July ADP Employment showed 42K jobs were added to private payrolls, which was slightly above consensus. The ISM Service Index came in at 54.3, also better than expectations of around 53. Investors remained cautious ahead of Friday's non-farm payroll's report.
 
Most major sectors finished the session higher led by consumer discretionary and health care. The CRB commodity index rose 0.9%. The US dollar was mixed against most currencies. Treasury yields were higher. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 42bps. The VIX index dropped less than 1 point. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the light side.

The market gave back some of the gains from yesterday's strong rally. However, the losses were quite limited after recovering from its early trading. Earlier, the market was off by as much as 1% due to poor pending home sales, which showed a decrease of 2.6% month-over-month. In other economic news, factory orders for June also came in worse-than-expected at -1.2%. Both personal income and spending and core personal consumption were flat in June. A slight increase in spending had been expected. The US dollar fell to a fresh three-month low in today's trading and the euro hit a fresh three-month high.
 
Most major sectors finished the session lower led by materials and consumer discretionary. The CRB commodity index was barely moved. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 43bps. The VIX index rose less than 1 point. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the light side.

The market kicked off new month with a strong rally. The Dow was higher by more than 200 points and closed above 10600 level for the time in more than two months. Positive earnings results and economic data were behind today's strength. The ISM Manufacturing Index for July came in at 55.5, higher than 54.2 expected. Construction spending for June unexpectedly rose 0.1% while a decline of 0.8% had been expected. The US dollar, meanwhile, hit a fresh three-month low in today's trading. The weakness in the greenback gave strength in commodity prices, which in turn boosted several commodity groups in the stock market.
 
All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by energy and basic materials. The CRB commodity index rose 0.9%. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were higher. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 44 bps. The VIX index dropped more than 1 point. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the light side.