By CountingPips.com
The US dollar was mixed against the other major currencies today in the forex markets while the US stock markets advanced following the better than expected ADP employment and service industry reports. The dollar was higher on the day versus the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar while trading lower against the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar, according to currency data at the end of the US trading session.
US stock markets, after a down day yesterday, finished their trading session higher with the Dow Jones industrial average up by 44.05 points while the NASDAQ rose by 20.05 points and the S&P500 advanced by 6.78 points. Oil edged down by just $0.10 to level at $82.45 while gold increased by $8.50 to trade at the $1193.70 level.
ADP Employment adds 42,000 workers
The ADP private employment report released today showed that companies added a total of 42,000 workers in the month of July and marked the sixth straight monthly increase for private employers. July’s employment data follows a revised increase of 19,000 workers added in June and surpassed market forecasts that were looking for a gain of approximately 33,000 jobs for the month.
Leading the way in job creation in July was the service sector which registered an increase of 63,000 workers while the goods-producing sector showed a decrease of 21,000 workers. Manufacturing jobs reversed course and fell by 6,000 workers for the month after increasing for the past five months. The construction sector declined by 17,000 workers while the financial sector was close to unchanged, shedding 1,000 workers.
Large businesses registered no change in workers for July while medium-size businesses added 21,000 workers. Small businesses or companies with less than 50 workers saw employment payrolls rise by 21,000 for the month.
ISM Non-Manufacturing data rises
U.S. Non-Manufacturing economic data, released by the Institute for Supply Management, showed that service-sector economic activity rose for a seventh straight month in July. The ISM Report On Business index readings for economic activity increased to 54.3 percent in July from a 53.8 percent level in June and surpassed economic forecasts which were expecting the ISM index reading to register 53.0 percent. A score in the index that is above 50 is considered to be growth and less than 50 is considered to be contraction.
Economic sectors tracked for July that showed increasing index scores were new orders, employment and new export orders while business activity, supplier deliveries, inventories, prices and the backlog of orders all had percentage point decreases for the month. Notably, the exports index showed positive growth for the month with a 4.0 percent increase after registering a contracting level in June while the imports index was flat in July.