The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.63%) at midafternoon was trading 12 points higher, or 0.07%, on positive employment news. In June, U.S. private-sector jobs increased by 281,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the biggest monthly increase since November 2012, according to the latest ADP report. June's result also handily beat the forecast for addition of 200,000 jobs.
"We're looking for a bit of a snapback in the economy and this is certainly data that points in that direction," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, told Reuters. "The pattern of better economic data continues, that means we've got an improving economy which should lead to higher earnings and be constructive for stocks."
Investors will now look toward the government's June payroll data, which is due out Thursday.
With that in mind, here are a couple companies making headlines in the markets today.
Inside the Dow, airplane manufacturer Boeing (BA +0.47%) appears to be nearing a deal to sell roughly 30 737 MAX commercial aircraft to U.K. carrier Monarch Airlines, though an official decision has yet to be made. The potential deal would be worth roughly $3 billion, according to Reuters, and would be a slap in the face to Europe-based Airbus, which was expected to land the contract.
Boeing also just received a nearly $2 billion Pentagon contract to supply the U.S. Navy with 38 FA-18 fighter aircraft and 21 EA-189 Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Boeing will also deliver 12 more aircraft to Australia, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.
While these orders seem minuscule when compared to Boeing's massive order backlog valued at $440 billion, they are important for other reasons. First, each contract awarded to Boeing over Airbus in the highly competitive single-aisle commercial aircraft market is a victory. Industry analysts had predicted Airbus would win a majority of contracts, but Boeing has made a recent sales surge with its 737 family. Second, every military contract is a Boeing win in the face of declining revenue and profits from its defense business amid government budget cuts.
Tesla is accelerating production rates of its Model S. Source: Tesla Motors.
In other industrial news, Tesla Motors (TSLA +3.14%) is preparing to introduce its first right-side-drive vehicles in Australia. Thus far, electric vehicles has failed to gain any momentum in Australia's market, though Tesla's Model S is quite the step up from traditional EVs. Tesla only recently introduced its right-side-drive vehicles into the United Kingdom, and the young automaker hopes to launch the Model S in Australia around September, according to the Financial Review.
Despite Tesla's promising international expansion, investors should keep in mind that these developments won't influence this year's deliveries, as the automaker remains constrained by supply. Tesla was predicted to deliver roughly 15,000 vehicles through the first half of 2014; as production bottlenecks are resolved, deliveries are expected to reach 20,000 in the back half of this year. If Tesla can match its delivery forecast of 35,000 vehicles in 2014, and end the year at a production rate of roughly 50,000 per year, it will kept another promise to investors.
