The U.S. stock market may get off to a soft start this morning, as traders brace themselves for a busy week. In the coming days, investors will receive a number of economic releases, including the much-anticipated monthly employment report. A handful of widely followed corporations will also be posting their latest financial results. As we were publishing this update, the S&P 500 Index futures were down about 14 points (-0.25%) in pre-market trading.
There are no major economic reports scheduled for today. However, this afternoon Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be speaking about the economy, and Wall Street will likely be paying close attention. Tomorrow, the ISM (Institute for Supply Management) Manufacturing Index for September will be released, along with the latest monthly construction spending figures. On Wednesday, Automatic Data Processing (ADP) will deliver its September employment numbers, followed by the weekly jobless claims and ISM Services report on Thursday. Meanwhile, the main event this week will take place early Friday morning, when the government publishes the September employment report. Analysts currently think the numbers will show that 144,000 non-farm jobs were added to the economy over the past month, with the unemployment rate remaining near the 4.2% level. This release will be carefully scrutinized by traders, given renewed concerns about the health of the labor market and the shape of the economy. This report is considered to be one of the most important, and has the potential to move the market.
In the corporate arena, this week we will hear from NIKE (NKE), a leading athletic footwear manufacturer. The company has come under considerable pressure lately, as smaller formidable competitors have started to gain market share. We will also hear from packaged foods producer Conagra (CAG), and Constellation Brands (STZ), a leading alcoholic beverage company.
From a technical viewpoint, the stock market is currently sitting near new high ground, which is encouraging. However, stocks have logged a sizable advance over the past couple of weeks, and it is unclear if the bulls can keep their buying campaign in place, or if a temporary pause might be in order. Sector leadership has come from the consumer cyclical stocks, the utilities, and the basic materials issues. Broader participation is a plus, however, it is not clear if the major averages can move notably higher without help from the large technology issues. – Adam Rosner
At the time of this article’s writing, the author had a position in NIKE.
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