Weekly Market Wrap: August 6 ,2010
Friday, August 6, 5:08 PM ET

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Hi. I’m Sayoko Murase. Welcome to the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 6, 2010.

Equity markets closed higher for the week. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% for the week, the Nasdaq added a little less than 1% and the Dow Industrials added little more than 2% on the week.

Crude oil futures were flat for the week, trading under $81 a barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures popped higher for the week, trading at $1,205 an ounce on Friday afternoon.

On the economic front, the ISM manufacturing index for July was released on Monday, beating expectations by coming in at 55.5 index level. The consensus estimate was for a 54 index level. Any reading over 50 indicates that the manufacturing sector is expanding.

On Tuesday, Detroit released auto sales totaling an 8.9 million annual rate for July. Auto sales were expected to have rebounded to an annual rate of 8.8 million from 8.4 million in June.

On Wednesday, the ISM service index for July was released, coming in at 54.3. The July number was expected to be 53. Similar to the manufacturing index, any reading over 50 indicates that the service sector is expanding.

Non-farm payrolls were released on Friday, falling 131,000 and disappointing investors. Economists were expecting a loss of 70,000 jobs in July coming on the heels of a loss of 125,000 jobs in June. The unemployment rate came in at 9.5 percent on expectations of a 9.6 percent level.

Earnings season continued strong this week with 106 S&P 500 Index component companies reporting second quarter earnings.

Agriculture giant Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM) posted profits on Tuesday of 69 cents a share. Analysts were expecting 52 cents.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) posted second quarter profits on Tuesday of 62 cents, ex-items, against a consensus estimate of 52 cents per share.

Also on Tuesday, Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) reported earnings per share of 54 cents, missing street estimates. The consensus number was 56 cents a share.

On Wednesday, gold miner Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) stated earnings of 16 cents per share, in-line with the consensus estimate.

Yamana Gold also posted earnings on Wednesday, disappointing investors with 12 cents per share, missing analyst estimates of 15 cents.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) stated earnings per share of $1.41, beating the consensus estimate by 20 cents.

Insurer CIGNA (NYSE:CI) reported $1.38 per share in profits on Thursday, beating the street estimate of $1.01 per share.

AIG (NYSE:AIG) reported earnings on Friday of $1.99, on expectations of 99 cents per share.

This is the “Weekly Market Wrap” for Friday, August 6. Please join us on Monday for the “Week Ahead Market Report.”