Stocks got the week off to a positive start, and this morning’s futures are leaning toward a slightly favorable open for the major U.S. indexes. In overnight trading, markets in Asia were mostly up. Meanwhile, the major European indexes are all showing gains in excess of 1.0%. Elsewhere, after jumping more than 4% on Monday, oil prices have edged lower, with West Texas Intermediate down about 0.3%, to around $86.15 a barrel.
Market watchers will get the latest readings on inflation this week. On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Producer Price Index (PPI) for September. Wall Street consensus is calling for a 1.6% year-over-year increase, which would be unchanged from August. On a month-to-month basis, expectations are calling for an uptick of 0.3%, down from 0.7% the month before. Wednesday also brings the minutes of the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which will be pored over for any additional clues as to the Federal Reserve’s potential course of action. Recent remarks by Fed officials have not been particularly hawkish on the monetary policy front.
Thursday brings us September’s figures for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a key metric for the central bank. Expectations are calling for the 12-month rate of increase to come in around 3.6%, down slightly compared to the 3.7% recorded through August. Meanwhile, the monthly figure appears likely to edge down to 0.3%, versus a 0.6% gain in August.
Readers should note that none of these figures will include the aforementioned spike in oil prices in the wake of the surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. While it is too early to tell if things will escalate in the region, there may be a threat to supply coming out of Iran if that country is found to be connected to the conflict, and becomes subject to U.S. sanctions. Barring any further shocks to energy prices, the consensus on Wall Street continues to call for the Federal Reserve to keep its overnight lending rate unchanged when it wraps up its next meeting in November.
Summing up Monday’s performance for the major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrials gained 197 points or 0.6%, the S&P 500 advanced 27 points (+0.6%) , and the tech-focused NASDAQ was up 52 points (0.4%). – Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
CLICK HERE for more information on our services or call 1-800-VALUELINE (1-800-825-8354). Our account managers are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time.
