Stocks began the week on an up note, with the Dow Jones Industrials marking their first close above 43,000, while the S&P 500 also reached a new high.
Earnings season is gearing up in earnest, with a slew of big names scheduled to announce this week. Our analysts are poring over reports from major financials Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Citigroup (C), all of which were liked by futures traders, and from two health name, UnitedHealth Group (UNH), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which got thumbs down after reporting today. ASML (ASML) and Morgan Stanley (MS) will release results on Wednesday, followed by Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) and Netflix (NFLX) on Thursday, as well as Procter & Gamble (PG) and American Express (AXP) on Friday.
In terms of economic reports, the week is largely back-weighted. On Thursday, the Census Bureau will release retail sales figures for September. Analysts are calling for a month-to-month increase of 0.3%, versus the 0.1% uptick recorded in August. The core figure, which excludes more-volatile food and energy prices, is expected to come in at 0.1%, which would be flat with the prior-month increase. We’ll also be getting the tallies for September’s industrial production from the Federal Reserve. The Street is currently anticipating a month-over-month decline of 0.1%, compared to an increase of 0.8% in August. That same day, the Department of Labor will release its report on initial jobless claims for last week. Estimates are suggesting a drop to 241,000 claims, down from 258,000 the week before.
On Friday, we’ll get a couple of updates on the homebuilding market from the Census Bureau. Housing starts for last month are forecast to come in around 1.35 million, down slightly from the 1.356 million reported in August. The outlook for building permits (a more forward-looking indicator) also suggests a decline, to 1.45 million, versus 1.47 million the month before.
As we approached the opening bell, futures for the major equity indexes were little changed. In overnight trading, stocks in Asia were mixed but with a bias to the downside, due to declines in China Stocks. Meanwhile, the European markets are largely showing slight losses. Elsewhere, oil prices have weakened after OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) cut its demand forecast for this year for the third time yesterday, with West Texas Intermediate crude down 3.8%, to around $71.00 per barrel.
Summing up Monday’s moves, the Dow Jones Industrials gained 201 points, or 0.5%, the S&P was up 44 points (0.8%), and the NASDAQ composite advanced 159 points (0.9%).
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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