October 2, 2013: U.S. markets opened lower Wednesday following the ADP report on employment which showed a smaller than expected gain in non-farm jobs in September. A later report from TrimTabs was even weaker. Mortgage applications dropped last week and crude oil inventories rose sharply again. Traders interpreted the current economic situation and government shutdown as positive signals for a continuation of the Fed’s accommodative policies, so crude prices rose despite the big inventory gain.

Latin American closed lower today, while European and Asian markets closed mixed.

The Census Bureau’s report on new construction spending was not released yesterday due to the federal government shutdown. Thursday’s calendar includes speeches by San Francisco Fed President John Williams, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, and Fed Governor Jerome Powell and the following scheduled data releases and events (all times Eastern):

• 730 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
• 10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 11:30 p.m. – 4-week bill auction

Here are the closing bell levels for Wednesday:

• S&P500 1,693.86 (-1.14; -0.07%)
• DJIA 15,133.14 (-58.56; -0.39%)
• NASDAQ 3,815.02 (-2.96; -0.08%)
• 10YR TNOTE 2.625% (+0.28125)
• Gold $1,320.70 (+34.60; +2.7%)
• WTI Crude oil $104.10 (+2.06; +2%)
• Euro/Dollar: 1.3588 (+0.0062; +0.46%)

Big Earnings Movers: Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) is down 1% at $104.03 after posting a larger-than-expected loss.

Stocks on the Move: Re/Max Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RMAX) is up 22.9% at $27.04 following an IPO at $22 this morning. Burlington Stores Inc. (NYSE: BURL) is up 47.8% at $25.13 after its IPO at $17.00 a share. Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) is up 5.4% at $26.90 after reporting a big increase in listener hours. Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is down 6.3% at $180.92 following a downgrade on the stock and a video showing a car said to be a Model S sedan in flames at an intersection (mild expletives included). In an email to Bloomberg News, the company said the fire was the result of a collision with “an object in the road.” No one was injured in the accident.

In all, 106 stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 27 stocks posted new lows.

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