High valuations in US stock market, lower valuations in Finnish market and mixed economic data

The stock market on Wall Street opened with a cautious upward trend on Wednesday, as the S&P 500 index, Dow Jones index, and Nasdaq technology index all rose by 0.1 percent. The S&P 500 index had closed the previous trading day at a record high of over 5,500 points, with a p/e ratio of about 25.8 based on the last 12 months’ numbers.

This valuation is significantly high compared to historical levels. In comparison, the OMXH25GI index in Helsinki, which considers dividends from the 25 largest listed companies, has a p/e factor of about 14.6, highlighting the relatively lower valuation in the Finnish market.

Economic data from the US presented interesting insights for investors on Wednesday. There were 238,000 new claims for unemployment benefits in the US the previous week, slightly above the forecast of 235,000. The US trade balance in May was -75.1 billion dollars, better than the forecast of -76.5 billion dollars. Additionally, despite creating fewer jobs than expected in June with only 150,000 new private sector jobs being created instead of forecasted 165,000 jobs there was some positive news as electric car manufacturer Tesla exceeded analysts’ sales forecasts and experienced an over 11% increase in their share price during trading hours yesterday.

Later in the day more economic data will be released such as durable goods orders and factory order volumes; these reports will be closely monitored by investors for further insights into