Monday's Market Minute: Previewing June

We begin the second week of June with traders focused on economic data, inflation, central bank activity, and comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over the weekend. Let’s take a market minute to get ahead of what’s to come this week.

The jobs report Friday disappointed many, with non-farm payrolls coming in at 559K, below the consensus for 650K. While unemployment inched lower, so did the participation rate. This week, regarding labor conditions here in the U.S., keep an eye on the JOLTS report Tuesday; last month, we saw a record amount of openings. We also have CPI, or Consumer Price Index, due out Thursday, along with Jobless claims and Consumer Sentiment later in the week.

Energies continue to move higher and will be a major focal point as the move up feeds into inflation concerns. Last week, the WTI crude traded at 2-year highs; now, the WTI is up around $70. In May, gasoline futures took out the March highs, but follow through to the upside was limited without participation from the WTI. Last week’s move up also has heating oil, gasoline futures, and Brent crude all pointed north to begin the month of June. This week we’ll hear from the Bank of Canada and the ECB; both are expected to leave rates unchanged, and many expect taper talk to be what traders are most interested in.

Lastly, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen persuaded members of the G-7 to agree to a minimum 15% global tax rate. Keep an eye on how the news weighs on tech stocks — while it’s far from a done deal as Congress would need to agree to it first, many think it could impact tech stocks the most.

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