Monday's Market Minute: This Week's Rundown

It looks like another busy week for traders and investors, let’s take a market minute to get ahead of what’s to come. In terms of economic data, the focus this week will shift from inflation figures to housing numbers, with the Housing Market Index and the Empire State Manufacturing data due Monday. Tuesday, keep an eye on Housing Starts and the Building Permits, and Friday we have Existing Home Sales. Jobless Claims Thursday will be a major focal point for financial markets.

Housing continues to be one of the pillars of strength we’ve witnessed during the pandemic; strong housing data has been supportive of many of the trends we watch in commodities like copper and lumber. In addition to the housing numbers, keep an eye on treasuries and the U.S. dollar, with the FOMC minutes due out Wednesday and multiple Fed speakers throughout the week. We also have a couple closely-watched retailers reporting quarterly results this week: Walmart WMT, Target TGT, Home Depot HD, Lowe’s LOW, and Kohl’s KSS.

After a volatile week for indices, keep an eye on the small-caps, the Russell, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq; they’ve been lagging behind the Dow and the S&P 500, both of which posted new all-time highs again last week. It was also a volatile week for cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin has established a well-defined range up near the all-time highs to help us determine the next significant move. It looks like support around 45K and the all-time high up around 65K are the key levels to watch.

Last but not least, don’t forget about energy markets like crude oil. The unexpected pipeline disruption was unable to get price above this year’s high around 68, but it found comfort around the 65 mark. If crude were to post new highs for the year it could spark inflation concerns again, and the ripple effect would be widespread.

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