Stock market today: Wall Street drifts ahead of jobs data, while oil prices keep climbing

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting Tuesday ahead of a report that may show whether the job market is cooling as much as Wall Street hopes it does. Crude oil prices, meanwhile, keep climbing and are near their highest levels since April.

The S&P 500 was 0.1% lower in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 17 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% lower.

Losses for some big, influential stocks weighed on the market. Nvidia, which has become the poster child of the rush into artificial-intelligence technology, fell 1.6% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Eli Lily dropped 2.9%.

They helped offset a 4.5% jump for Tesla, which reported a milder drop in sales for April through June than analysts were expecting.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were easing ahead of a report coming in the morning that will show how many job openings U.S. employers were advertising at the end of May. The hope on Wall Street has been for the job market to slow enough to keep a lid on inflation, but not so much that it throws too many people out of work and causes a recession.

A currency trader passes by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ahn Young-joon

The goal is for inflation and the overall economy to slow enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, and Treasury yields had been mostly easing since April on rising hopes for just that.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.41% from 4.46% late Monday.

The solidly downward move for Treasury yields since April ran into resistance the last two days, though. Last week’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump pushed traders to make moves in anticipation of a possible Republican sweep in November. That included pushing Treasury yields higher, in part on the possibility that a Trump White House could push for policies that would further raise the U.S. government’s debt.

The 10-year yield is still well above its 4.29% level from late Thursday, before the debate.

In commodities markets, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 0.4% to $83.70 after earlier touching its highest price since April. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.6% to $87.16 per barrel.

Crude prices have been rising on expectations for strong demand during the summer, as well as the possibility of hurricanes damaging oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Beryl is roaring on a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes fell after a report showed that inflation in the region remains stuck above the level that the European Central Bank is hoping for, though it did slow. Germany’s DAX lost 1.1%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5%.

A day earlier, French stocks had rallied after election results suggested a far-right political party may not win a decisive majority in the country’s legislative elections. That raised the possibility of gridlock in the French government, which would prevent a worst-case scenario where a far-right with a clear majority could push policies that would greatly increase the French government’s debt.

This is a big year for elections worldwide, with voters in the United Kingdom heading to the polls later this week

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% after the value of the Japanese yen fell again to near another 38-year low. When the yen is weak, it can boost the fortunes of Japanese exporters.

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AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

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