The U.S. stock market may get off to a muted start this morning, as we enter the month of December. This week, traders will receive an important manufacturing reading, the November employment report, and a handful of corporate profit releases. At the time that we were publishing this piece, the S&P 500 Index futures were hovering around the neutral line in pre-market trading.
In economic news, this morning the ISM (Institute for Supply Management) Manufacturing Index for the month of November will be released. The ISM Services Index will follow later in the week. Together, these two reports are of some importance, as they are seen as fairly reliable indicators on the overall economy. On Wednesday, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) will post its monthly private payroll numbers, and this issuance may receive some attention from investors wanting a closer look at the nation’s employment situation. Meanwhile, the big event of the week will take place on Friday morning, when the government publishes its November employment report. Analysts currently think about 200,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, which would represent a considerable improvement over the October reading. The headline unemployment rate is expected to rise slightly to the 4.2% level. In addition, investors will want to see that wages have not been increasing unexpectedly and that inflation remains under control. It should be noted that in just a couple of weeks the Federal Reserve interest-setting Open Market Committee will meet for the last time in 2024. Most investors think that interest rates will be reduced by another 25 basis points at that time.
A few widely-held corporations will post financial results this week. Tomorrow, we will hear from Salesforce (CRM), a leading enterprise software company. Salesforce is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, so its report could have an impact on the broader stock market. Later in the week, we will receive reports from Lululemon Athletica (LULU), Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), Dollar General (DG), and Ulta Beauty (ULTA).
From a technical perspective, the stock market has been performing well lately. In fact, the S&P 500 Index has climbed about 27% so far this year, and is currently sitting at record high ground. The market rally has been reasonably broad, with most of the major equity sectors forging ahead. While we cannot forecast the market’s direction, at this point many traders may be speculating that stocks will continue to advance through the end of the year. - Adam Rosner
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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