July 05, 2012-Markets Finding Resistance at Current Levels

With traders shrugging off better than expected U.S. employment data, stocks are likely to move to the downside in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 49 points. The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders seem likely to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which drove the major averages to their best closing levels in over a month on Tuesday. Traders have largely shrugged off a report from ADP showing stronger than expected private sector job growth as well as a Labor Department report showing an unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims. ADP said the private sector added 176,000 jobs in June following an upwardly revised increase of 136,000 jobs in May. Economists had expected private sector employment to increase by about 95,000 jobs compared to the increase of 133,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.