Wall Street ended a four-day rally after investors hit the pause button following a weaker-than-expected jobs report, overtaking sentiment of a rapid economic recovery, plus more in today’s Closing Bell on Money & Markets.

The Top Story

While two of the three major U.S. indexes were modestly lower after a morning bump, they have shown remarkable resilience since their late-March plunges, with the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 and the Dow now within 2%, 9% and 12% of their respective record highs reached in mid-February.

The Nasdaq 100 briefly breached its record closing high earlier in the session.

Economic data showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dipped below 2 million for the first time since mid-March (see more below), and plummeting international commerce resulted in a net widening of the U.S. trade gap.

Friday’s much-anticipated jobs report from the Labor Department is expected to show the U.S. unemployment rate skyrocketing to a historic 19.7%.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank approved a stimulus package that surpassed expectations, nearly doubling the size of its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Plan to 1.35 trillion Euros.

Its American counterpart, the Federal Reserve, is due to meet next week for its two-day policy meeting.

The Dow Jones was barely up 0.05%. The S&P 500 dropped 0.3% and the Nasdaq was off by 0.7%. The Russell 2000 was flat.

Stock Market Update: Closing Bell*

S&P 500: 3,112 (-0.34%)
DOW: 26,281 (+0.05%)
NASDAQ: 9,615 (-0.69%)
RUSSELL 2000: 1,452 (flat)
VIX: 25.81 (+0.58%)
GOLD: $1,723.10 (+1.07%)
BITCOIN: $9,796.94 (+2.37%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 0.81% (+0.05)

*- as of 4:20 p.m.

A Big Win

In this morning’s Opening Bell, we told you to be on the lookout for Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) after the automaker reported year-over-year sales growth of 130% for May in the Chinese market, signaling an economic recovery. Shares of Ford rose 6.1%.

We also told you to watch American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL). The company said it plans to increase its July flight schedule to 55% of its original plan. It is a massive jump from the 20% projection in May. Shares of American Airlines were up whopping 41.2%

Finally, after its shares jumped in premarket trading, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: INO) tumbled 4.4%, even after reporting a partnership with the International Vaccine Institute for an early trial of its COVID-19 experimental vaccine.

Golden Nuggets

Precious metal futures drove higher and the U.S. dollar retreated as the stock market rally fizzled out.

Spot gold jumped 0.8% in afternoon trading after U.S. weekly jobless claims were reported below 2 million for the first time since mid-March.

The dollar also held near its lowest level in about three months, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Gold futures jumped 1% to trade at $1,722.60 an ounce. Silver futures were up 0.3% to $18.01 an ounce.

Platinum climbed 0.8% to $867.30 an ounce while palladium fell 0.7% to $1,943.60.

Cannabis Corner

Looting in California has prompted the state’s oversight agency to take measures.

According to Marijuana Business Daily, the California Bureau of Cannabis Control has removed its online database of cannabis businesses in the state from public view.

The BCC said its action was done at the behest of industry members who were robbed over the weekend after protests sparked over the death of a black man in Minnesota in police custody.

Other similar databases in California are either not working or contain very little public information.

Jobless Claims Higher Than Expectations

For the first time since mid-March, U.S. unemployment claims were below 2 million last week.

The Department of Labor reported jobless claims coming in at 1.87 million — higher than Wall Street expectations of 1.7 million.

The advanced seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate jumped to 14.8% — an increase of 0.5% from the previous week’s rate. According to the report, the advance number for seasonally adjusted unemployment was 21.48 million, an increase of 649,000 from the previous week.

Maine, Oklahoma, Michigan, Kentucky and Oregon had the largest increases for initial claims while Washington, Florida, California, New York and Illinois had the largest decreases in claims.

Today’s Big Winners:

S&P 500: American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) +41.2%

Nasdaq: United Airlines Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL) +16.2%

Dow: Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) +6.4%

Today’s Big Losers:

S&P 500: DexCom Inc. (Nasdaq: DXCM) -5.7%

Nasdaq: Zoom Video Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: ZM) -6%

Dow: UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) -2.4%

Check back for the most important news and numbers each day after the Closing Bell, only on Money & Markets.