US Open: Wall Street mostly flat despite some 'dovish' US labour market readings

• U.S. index contracts traded mostly slightly lower, with Nvidia (NVDA.US) losing 1%
• Dovish US data - benefit claims higher, revised labor costs sharply lower
• Strong declines on ZIM Integrated Shipping (ZIM.US) shares, 15% rally on Smartsheet (SMSH.US) shares
• Cooling of sentiment in the chip sector, Micron (MU.US) with nearly 3% drop in share prices
• Robinhood (HOOD.US) shares gain more than 5% after news of a plan to acquire cryptocurrency exchange BitStamp
• Novavax (NVAX.US) erases more than 20% post-opening gains, shares rattled by final FDA approval of Covid-19 vaccine

U.S. indexes are trading flat, however, and market volatility is still relatively low. Nvidia shares are trading down 1%, after a recent rally. Today's macro data from the U.S. indicated lower labour costs, with revised productivity growth to 0.2% versus 0% in the first reading and 0.3% previously. Labour costs were revised surprisingly lower, to 4% y/y vs. 4.9% in the first reading and 4.7% previously. US jobless claims pointed to 229,000 vs. 220,000 forecast and 219,000 previously; continued claims rose slightly to 1.792 million vs. 1.79 million forecasted. Finally, the U.S. labour market picture is starting to look consistent and suggests a cooling off (recent lowest JOLTS since 2021, weaker ADP and higher claims today).  Nvidia has surpassed Apple's capitalization, and shares of the three largest U.S. companies (Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple) are now worth more than the entire Chinese stock market. The IMF commented that the Fed should maintain a cautious and data-dependent approach to cutting rates as the US labour market is showing some weakness. In the same time, US economy has proven resilient, and domestic demand remains strong,

US500 (M30 interval)

Source: xStation5

Source: xStation5

News from companies

• Ebay (EBAY.US) shares gain nearly 2% after the e-commerce company was upgraded to buy from neutral by Citi
• Lululemon (LULU.US) shares gain nearly 7%; the sportswear maker raised its earnings per share guidance for the year and reported first-quarter profit that exceeded expectations. Management also approved a $1 billion increase in its share repurchase program. Morgan Stanley analysts indicated that they remain cautious about the company's future prospects
• Rubrik Inc. shares. (RBRK.US) are gaining more than 3% after BMO Capital Markets upgraded the infrastructure software company to Outperform, above market
• Shares Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) are up 1.5% after; Mizuho Securities raised its valuation of the packaging company to buy from neutral previously
• Sprinklr (CXM) stock is down 17% after the social media management software company lowered its full-year subscription revenue forecast. Many analysts downgraded the stock.

ZIM (D1 interval)

Shares of Israeli-based, freight operator ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM.US) are losing nearly 15% after Citi downgraded the stock to sell from neutral. The bank argued the decision with the recent surge in ZIM stock price and greater exposure to spot freight rates; analysts expect rates to fall this year, adversely raising ZIM operating risk profile.

Source: xStation5