Before The Bell
The U.S. stock market opened sharply lower yesterday, but managed to recover some ground later in the session. Investors turned cautious, as the Delta variant of the coronavirus has been spreading and could potentially delay the global economic recovery. News that spectators will not be allowed to attend the summer Olympics in Tokyo, due to public health concerns, did little to help investor sentiment. In addition, traders may be worried that the economy, and corporate sector, could stumble if the Federal Reserve pulls back from its supportive policies. Overnight, the international markets turned in an uneven performance. In Asia, the Nikkei put in a weak session. However, in Europe, the FTSE 100 managed to advance. On our shores, the equity futures are mostly positive, indicating a good start to the trading day.
In economic news, we received a handful of reports yesterday. Most notably, the latest weekly jobless claims came in higher than had been anticipated, suggesting that the nation’s employment situation may still be vulnerable. Today, will be quiet, as there are few economic items being released. However, we will get a look at wholesale inventory levels for the month of May.
In the corporate arena, the second quarter is now over, and numerous companies will soon weigh in with their numbers. Analysts are expecting that corporate profits will advance sharply for the quarter, compared to last year. However, it should be noted that in 2020, the coronavirus caused major disruptions, and that should make for easy comparisons. Although the figures being reported this quarter will be important, the outlook being provided for the remainder of the year will be closely watched. For some time, companies have refrained from offering detailed guidance, citing an uncertain backdrop. At this point, Wall Street would probably like to see greater visibility. The major financial institutions tend to report early in the season. Specifically, Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC) are slated to post results early next week. These reports should be informative, as financial institutions tend to be economically sensitive.
Technically, the S&P 500 Index has staged a solid advance over the past several weeks. As a result, some consolidation at this level could be expected. Looking forward, the market’s direction will probably be most influenced by the corporate reports coming out over the next few weeks.
– Adam Rosner
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
