As we approached the start of the holiday-shortened week, investors were hoping stocks can bounce back from last week’s losses. However, the futures are pointing to a negative open for the major stock indexes. In overnight trading, markets in Asia closed mixed. Meanwhile, the major European indexes are also moving in a similar fashion. Elsewhere, oil prices have edged lower, with West Texas Intermediate down about 0.2%, to around $79.00 a barrel.
Although earnings season is starting to wind down, there are still a number of large names we haven’t heard from yet. Most notably, Wall Street will be keenly interested in what tech giant NVIDIA (NVDA) has to say when it releases its January-quarter results after the market closes on Wednesday. The company’s shares have more than tripled in price over the past 12 months, thanks in no little part to the key role its products play in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other high-performance applications.
On the economic front, the schedule is relatively light this week. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, from which traders hope to glean some more clues as to the central bank’s thinking on potential interest-rate cuts. With recent reports indicating that consumer and producer price inflation remains an ongoing concern, market watchers are not looking for the Fed to make any moves until at least June.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor is scheduled to release last week’s figures on initial jobless claims. The Street’s consensus is calling for about 217,000 new positions added, up from 212,000 the week before. That same day, the National Association of Realtors is set to announce existing home sales for January. Analysts are estimating an uptick in the annualized rate, to 3.97 million, versus the 3.78 million reported the month before.
Summing up Friday’s moves for the major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrials lost 145 points, or 0.4%, the S&P 500 was down 24 points (0.5%), and the tech-heavy NASDAQ fared the worst, falling 130 points (0.8%). – 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.
