As we approach the start of today’s session, U.S. stock futures are suggesting a slightly negative open. In overnight trading, markets in Asia were mostly down. Meanwhile, the major European indexes are mixed. Elsewhere, oil prices have moved higher, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) up about 1.4%, to around $73.00 a barrel.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have both expressed optimism regarding the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. This is encouraging, as failure to reach an agreement would have far-reaching economic implications. It appears the matter is down to political wrangling over what budget compromises will need to be made. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated her message that, barring emergency measures, the U.S. could default as early as the first of June.
In the meantime, earnings season is quickly winding down, with large retailers BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), and Lowes (LOW) reporting today. While these earnings releases won’t do much to “move the needle” in terms of impacting the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates at its next meeting in mid-June, they will provide more data points on the health of the consumer in the face of higher borrowing costs.
On the economic front, this morning brings the report on new homes sales for April, with the consensus calling for a decline of about 18,000 units versus the March number, to 665,000 homes. On Thursday, we get the latest figures on pending home sales, where the Street is calling for an increase of 1.1%, compared to the 5.2% decline registered last month. Lastly, Friday’s docket features a slew of reports, including durable goods orders and personal spending for April. But the key release for market watchers will be last month’s Personal Consumption Expenditures price index (or PCE). Excluding food and energy, the so-called “core” number is widely expected to come in flat with the 0.3% increase recorded in March.
Stocks ended Monday’s session in mixed fashion, with the Dow Jones Industrials falling 140 points (0.4%), while the broader S&P 500 moved ahead by a fraction of a point and the tech-heavy NASDAQ advanced 62 points (0.5%).
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
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