Stocks began the week on a generally positive note, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ setting new highs. Ahead of today’s opening bell, the futures are indicating a slightly favorable start for the major indexes. In overnight trading, the markets in Asia closed higher, but stocks in Europe are showing small losses. Elsewhere, oil prices have moved lower, with West Texas Intermediate down about 0.5%, to around $81.90 a barrel.
Looking at the economic calendar, today and tomorrow, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will go before the Joint Economic Committee in Washington to testify on the economic outlook and recent monetary policy actions.
On Thursday, the Department of Labor will release its report on initial jobless claims. Wall Street is calling for the tally to come in around 236,000, down from the 238,000 announced last week.
Friday brings the latest reading on wholesale prices, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics release of Producer Price Index (PPI) for June. The consensus is calling for a month-over-month increase of 0.1%, compared to the 0.2% decline reported for May. Expectations are also pointing to an uptick in the so-called core PPI (which excludes the food and energy components), to an increase of 0.2% for the month, versus a flat reading in May.
Last but not least, second-quarter earnings season will kick off in earnest on Friday, with reports due from Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC), among others. Investors will be sifting through these reports to get a better reading on how the economy is faring. Concerns are increasing that household budgets may be overstretched. On point, yesterday’s report from the Federal Reserve indicating that total consumer credit increased $11.3 billion in May, up from a gain of $6.5 billion in April. Altogether, consumer debt stood at $17.43 trillion at the end of May, up 2.9% from a year earlier.
Summing up Monday’s moves for the major U.S. indexes, the Dow Jones Industrials lost 31 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 inched ahead by five points (0.1%), and the NASDAQ advanced 50 points (0.3%). – 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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