The U.S. equity and bond markets are closed today in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday. The major equity averages rallied at the end of last week, fueled by Wall Street’s favorable reaction to the latest round of consumer and producer (wholesale) price data and an encouraging start to the fourth-quarter earnings season (see below). On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broader S&P 500 Index, the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite, and the small-cap Russell 2000 rose 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 0.4%, respectively.
This abbreviated trading week will be light on economic news, with the only two reports of significance coming later in the week. On Thursday, the Labor Department will release its weekly reading on initial unemployment claims, while on Friday, the National Association of Realtors will report existing home sales data for the month of December. It also is worth noting that we are entering a quiet period for the Federal Reserve ahead of its first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of 2025, which will conclude on January 29th. The central bank is expected to hold the federal funds rate steady at 4.25%-4.50% during next week’s meeting.
The light calendar of economic reports will have investors focusing on fourth-quarter earnings season. The reporting period got off to a positive start last week, with a number of the big banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS), reporting strong financials. This week will bring earnings from a number of Dow-30 companies, including 3M Company (MMM), Procter & Gamble (PG), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), American Express (AXP), and Verizon Communications (VZ). – William G. Ferguson
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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