Services PMI, labor data portray mixed economic picture: Catalysts

On today's episode of Catalysts, Hosts Brad Smith and Madison Mills break down some of the biggest stories of the trading day, from fresh economic data to the tumultuous week for the auto industry. The services sector expanded in August, according to the latest ISM Services PMI data. The reading was 51.5, just slightly higher than Wall Street's expectation and July's reading of 51.4. Meanwhile, 99,000 private payroll jobs were added to the US labor market in August, according to ADP. This figure came in well below original forecasts of 145,000 jobs. Freedom Capital Markets chief global strategist Jay Woods emphasizes the importance of economic data leading into the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting in two weeks. As the US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release August jobs data on Friday, Woods calls the print "the biggest unemployment report we've had since the last one, obviously, which came two days after the Fed meeting." It's been a rocky week for the auto industry as General Motors (GM) was downgraded by Wolfe Research, Volkswagen (VOW3.DE, VWAGY, VOW.DE, VWAPY) is considering shuttering some of its plants, and Tesla (TSLA) announced plans to release its Full Self-Driving technology in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025. Autoblog editor-in-chief Greg Migliore explains that amid the wave of negative news for the industry, Tesla was rewarded for not making any drastic moves. Tuesday marked one of the biggest sales of high-grade corporate bonds, amounting to $43.3 billion. S&P Global Ratings global head of private markets analytics Ruth Yang joins the Catalysts team in-studio to discuss the credit market outlook as the Federal Reserve begins its rate easing cycle. "We're looking for the rates to drop by about 150 basis points over the next 15 months. So the world is kind of starting to say, 'OK, we've got inflation under control. Things are getting better. Credit is settled in higher for longer. And now is the opportunity to kind of refinance and get the wheels really back in motion,'" Yang tells Yahoo Finance. This post was written by Melanie Riehl