US close: Stocks dip as Treasury yields grind higher

Wall Street finished slightly lower, despite the release of mostly positive economic data, as investors continued to try and make heads or tails of the downgrade of the country's sovereign debt rating the day before.

"US stocks are getting hit with a one-two punch as Fitch’s US sovereign downgrade overnight and on expectations the US Treasury will continue to boost the size of their debt sales," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.

"Earnings have been still coming mostly better than expected but the major indexes don't seem to have anything left in the tank to take Wall Street back to record highs."​

The Dow Jones Industrials dipped 0.19% to 35,215.89, the S&P 500 by 0.25% to 4,501.89 and the Nasdaq Composite by 0.1% to 13,959.72.

The VIX volatility index on the other hand was up by 5.59% to 16.99.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was seven basis higher to 4.16% and fast approaching its 52-week highs at 4.325%.

According to the Department of Labor, initial jobless claims increased by 6,000 over the week ending on 29 Julyo to reach 227,000, as expected by economists.

Those figures came alongside others showing a sharp drop in layoff announcements by companies and a slower-than-expècted increase in unit labour costs.

Consensus for the July non-farm payrolls report due out the next day was for a gain of 175,000, but some economists saw scope for a much larger rise.

The Institute for Supply Management's services sector Purchasing Managers' Index on the other hand did slip from a reading of 53.9 for June to 52.7 in July (consensus: 53.0).

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.87 1.40%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $53.15 1.08%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $108.64 1.05%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $156.35 0.61%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $353.16 0.59%
Visa Inc. (V) $238.76 0.51%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $291.02 0.48%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $170.64 0.43%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $329.85 0.41%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $54.90 0.37%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $215.56 -2.24%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $281.40 -2.13%
3M Co. (MMM) $107.19 -1.58%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $30.31 -1.17%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $169.40 -0.99%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $85.49 -0.94%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $33.06 -0.78%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $191.17 -0.73%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $61.64 -0.52%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $326.66 -0.26%

S&P 500 - Risers

Clorox Co. (CLX) $166.13 8.96%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $70.47 7.85%
Apache Corp. (APA) $41.66 6.79%
Westrock Company (WRK) $34.53 6.18%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $771.45 5.37%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $435.12 5.34%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $68.28 5.03%
Allstate Corp (The) (ALL) $111.41 4.55%
Ball Corp (BALL) $59.07 3.49%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $113.15 3.48%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $19.10 -29.44%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $98.67 -16.38%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $64.18 -12.32%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $16.06 -8.85%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $118.70 -8.18%
Cummins Inc. (CMI) $242.64 -7.47%
MGM Resorts International (MGM) $45.76 -7.11%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.68 -6.15%
Ansys Inc. (ANSS) $305.47 -6.12%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,323.11 13.59%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $70.47 7.85%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $771.45 5.37%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $68.28 5.03%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $39.74 3.71%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $39.56 3.42%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $149.93 2.21%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $259.32 2.05%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $43.26 1.98%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $108.90 1.93%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $98.67 -16.38%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $64.18 -12.32%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $118.70 -8.18%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $39.28 -3.42%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $347.74 -2.97%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.94 -2.55%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $185.34 -2.23%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $507.77 -2.20%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.57 -2.06%