The major market indexes took a hit on Monday following news of new tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. President Trump subsequently placed the new levies on pause for 30 days, and this morning’s futures were pointing to a likely rebound at the opening bell. However, they moved lower following word that China was imposing additional tariffs on select U.S. items. In overnight trading, markets in Asia were mixed. Meanwhile, the European indexes were mostly close to the unchanged mark. Elsewhere, oil prices were headed lower, with West Texas Intermediate down about 3%, to around $71.10 a barrel.
Earnings season remains in the spotlight, and this week includes a number of key reports. Alphabet (GOOG), the parent of Google, is due to report after the market close today. Tomorrow, we’ll hear from Walt Disney (DIS) and Qualcomm (QCOM), followed by Amazon.com (AMZN) and Eli Lily (LLY) on Thursday.
Turning to the economic docket for this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is due to release the results from its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) this morning. Wall Street was expecting a small dip in December, to 7.880 million, versus the 8.098 million reported the month before. At around the same time, the Census Bureau was scheduled to announce factory orders for December. Analyst estimates were suggesting a month-to-month decline of 0.7%, which would be slightly worse than the 0.4% dip logged in November.
Tomorrow, we’ll hear from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) when it releases its non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for January. Expectations are calling for a reading of around 54.2, up slightly from the 54.1 recorded in December. (Readings above 50 signify expanding activity, while those below 50 denote contraction.) If estimates are on point, it would mark a seventh-straight month of expansion for the services sector.
On Thursday we’ll get the Department of Labor’s report on initial unemployment claims. Analysts are calling for an increase to 214,000 claims, versus 207,000 the week before. Lastly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will come out with its jobs report for last month. Projections suggest an increase of 154,000 to the payrolls, down from a gain of 256,000 in December. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1%.
Summing up Monday’s price moves, the Dow Jones Industrials, which at one point were down 665 points, trimmed their losses to 122 points, or 0.3%, the S&P 500 shed 45 points (0.8%), and the tech-heavy NASDAQ closed the day down 235 points (1.2%). – 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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