Monday’s trading was light ahead of the Independence Day holiday, which had U.S. markets closed on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the market learned U.S. Factory orders took another step back in May, losing 0.8%, exceeding consensus’ expectations. Stocks ended last week higher, despite falling energy shares. The price of crude oil closed at $44.30 per barrel, down from the prior week’s closing price of $46.33 per barrel, which contributed to the decline. Midweek the Federal Reserve released its minutes from the June meeting, which showed the Fed has a plan to reduce the size of its balance sheet, but lacks a consensus on when to begin the process. On Thursday, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index showed that the services segment of the economy unexpectedly improved in June. The index rose from 56.9 in May to 57.4 for June, exceeding the forecast of 56.7. Expansion in the non-manufacturing sector occurred in business activity, new orders, and prices. Employment grew in the non-manufacturing sector, but at a slower pace compared to May. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index closed in the green zone on Friday on the heels of June’s strong labor report, as 222,000 new jobs were added during the month. This reading was well above the 152,000 new jobs added in May. The unemployment rate inched up 0.1 percentage point to 4.4%.
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