Earnings season is in full swing and, so far, the results have largely been topping expectations. Coming up this week we will hear from the likes of Tesla (TSLA), Coca-Cola (KO), T-Mobile US (TMUS), and Boeing (BA).
On the economic calendar for this week, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its figures on existing home sales on Wednesday morning. Wall Street is expecting a slight uptick for September, to an annualized rate of 3.88 million units, up from 3.86 million recorded the month before. That same day, the Federal Reserve is due to put out its Beige Book report. Analysts will be poring through the economic data to gain more insight into the central bank’s thinking on short-term interest rates. With two weeks to go before the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the fed funds futures are pointing to a greater than 90% chance that the lead bank will trim its overnight target rate by a quarter point, to 4.50%-4.75%.
Thursday brings more data on the housing market. The Census Bureau will announce new home sales for September. There, the consensus is calling for the number to come in around 717,000, which would be an increase of 1,000 versus the tally for August. That same day, we’ll get initial jobless claims figures from the Department of labor. Market watchers expect a slight uptick, to 243,000 claims, compared to 241,000 the week before.
Lastly, on Friday we’ll get the Census Bureau’s report on durable goods orders for last month. Forecasts suggest a month-over-month decline of around 1.1%, versus a flat reading in August. On a core basis (excluding transportation items), the outlook is more favorable, with estimates calling for a decline of 0.1%, compared to a 0.5% increase the month before.
Ahead of the opening bell, stock futures were pointing to a modest decline at the start of today’s session. In overnight trading, stocks in Asia were mixed. Meanwhile, the European markets are slightly in the loss column. Elsewhere, oil prices have regained some ground, with West Texas Intermediate crude up about 0.8%, to around $71.15 per barrel.
Summing up Monday’s moves, the Dow Jones Industrials lost 344 points, or 0.8%, the S&P was down 10 points (0.2%), and the NASDAQ composite bucked the trend by gaining 50 points (0.3%). – Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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