Stocks got the week off on a solid up note. However, pre-market activity ahead of the opening bell was suggesting a down start to today’s session. Elsewhere, stocks in Asia closed higher. Meanwhile, the European markets were mostly in the green.
While developments on the tariff front will continue to get most of the attention from Wall Street, investors will also be sifting through a raft of earnings reports this week. Today, we are hearing from the likes of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America (BAC), and Citigroup (C). The remainder of the week includes releases from ASML (ASML), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Netflix (NFLX), and Comerica (CMA). Traders will be eager to get some clarity on the potential impacts of the Trump Administration’s levies, however the situation remains fluid.
The economic calendar for this week includes a few key reports. Tomorrow morning we’ll get the Census Bureau’s tallies for retail sales in March. The consensus on Wall Street is currently leaning toward a month-to-month uptick of 1.4%, up from the 0.2% registered in February. On a ‘core’ basis (which excludes automobiles, gasoline, building materials, and food services), expectations are calling for a month-over-month gain of 0.4% last month, versus 0.3% for February. That same day, the Federal Reserve will issue its report on industrial production for March, where analyst estimates are suggesting a month-to-month decline of 0.2%, compared to an increase of 0.7% in February.
Moving over to Thursday, we’ll get two key reports on the health of the home-construction sector. Forecasts are calling for the Census Bureau to report housing starts at a pace of about 1.420 million units in March, down from 1.501 million the month before. Additionally, building permits (which are a more forward-looking indicator) are anticipated to also show a modest decline, coming in at 1.45 million for March, versus the 1.459 million logged in February. We’ll also get the latest tally for initial jobless claims from the Department of Labor. Prognosticators are expecting a small uptick to 225,000, compared to 223,000 the week before.
Lastly, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, as well as the bond markets, will be closed in observance of the Good Friday holiday.
Summing up Monday’s price moves for the major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 312 points, or 0.8%, the S&P 500 gained 42 points (0.8%), and the tech-laden NASDAQ was up 107 points (0.6%). – 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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