As we approached this morning’s opening bell, stock futures were indicating a positive start to today’s session. Notably, in overnight trading, stocks in China rose sharply, after the country’s central bank announced a new round of measures to stimulate its economy. This prompted China’s stock benchmark, the CSI 300, along with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, to all soar more than 4%. Meanwhile, the European indexes are also in the green, and the price of West Texas Intermediate has jumped 2.4%, to about $72 a barrel.
The Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 both closed at new highs Monday, extending last week’s rally in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s half-point rate cut. While the central bank is more confident that inflation will continue to move toward its two percent goal, it has made clear that it is ready to adjust its stance if the situation changes. With that in mind, fed funds futures continue to lean toward the lead bank lowering its overnight lending rate by at least another three-quarters of percentage point by year end.
Looking at the economic calendar for this week, the Census Bureau will come out with its latest numbers on building permits on Wednesday. The Street is calling for an uptick in August, to 1.475 million, versus the 1.406 million reported for July. Later that day, the Bureau will announce the tally for new home sales that month. Analysts are looking for a dip to around 693,000 units in August, compared to the 739,000 logged the month before.
We’ll get more insight into the housing market Thursday, with the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Report for last month. Forecasts are pointing toward a 0.5% increase in August, which would be a significant improvement from the 5.5% month-over-month decline in July. That same day brings the Department of Labor’s report on initial jobless claims for last week. Consensus estimates are suggesting the total moved up to 224,000, versus 219,000 the week before.
Friday brings the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for August. Analysts are expecting the Department of Commerce to report a month-to-month increase of 0.2% in the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, matching July’s reading. Lastly, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will release Personal Spending figures, which are anticipated to have advanced 0.3% in August, down a bit from the 0.5% increase posted in July.
Summing up Monday’s moves for the major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrials moved up 61 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 gained 16 points (0.3%), and the NASDAQ composite advanced 25 points (0.1%). – 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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