US open: Stocks start off Q3 in the red

dl exchange place wall st street pl new york city nyc ny nyse stock exchange dow jones sp nasdaq finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america — Exchange PlaceSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Friday as major indices fail to put a horrific first half behind them.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.39% at 30,656.08, while the S&P 500 was 0.25% weaker at 3,775.77 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.13% softer at 11,013.85.

The Dow opened 119.35 points lower on Friday after the blue-chip index wrapped up the previous session in the same state it spent much of the last two quarters - in the red.

Friday's primary focus will be the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers index, which fell to 53 in June, down from 56.1 in May and pointing to the slowest growth in factory activity in two years. Economists were expecting a print of 54.9. New orders contract from 55.1 in May to 49.2 in June, while employment also further declined from 49.6% to 47.3.

The ISM's report also showed that business sentiment remained optimistic regarding demand, but companies cautioned that continued supply chain and pricing issues were still very much their primary concerns going forward.

Elsewhere on the macro front, the S&P Global manufacturing PMI was revised slightly higher to 52.7 in June, up from a preliminary reading of 52.4, but still pointed to the slowest growth in factory activity since July 2020. New orders fell, primarily due to inflationary pressures, weak client confidence in the outlook, and supply-chain disruptions.

Finally, construction spending in the United States decreased 0.10% month-on-month in May to hit $1.77trn, according to the Census Bureau, as spending on private construction was virtually unchanged and public construction spending slipped 1.6% to $343.8bn.

In terms of company news, Micron and Kohl's both issued disappointing guidance, while General Motors warned that Q2 manufacturing issues could drag net income for the quarter to between $1.6bn and $1.9bn - well and truly short of the $2.5bn expected on the Street.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $140.70 2.91%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $279.78 2.01%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $167.33 1.39%
American Express Co. (AXP) $140.34 1.24%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $95.37 1.03%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $113.69 0.96%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $137.97 0.91%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $299.44 0.81%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $180.15 0.78%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $63.38 0.75%