Monday's Market Minute: This Week's Primary Focus: Earnings

The focus for market participants will shift from inflation and the Fed to companies reporting quarterly results and the housing data due out this week. After a mixed reaction to the news from banks on Friday, this week it’s all eyes on a basket of big names set to report and provide further insight as to how strong the U.S. economy and consumer remain in a higher rate environment. Keep an eye on J.B. Hunt (JBHT), Bank of America (BAC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Goldman Sachs (GS), Netflix (NFLX), United Airlines (UAL), Morgan Stanley (MS), Tesla (TSLA), IBM (IBM), Lam Research (LRCX), Alcoa (AA) , Discover Financial (DFS), American Express (AXP), AT&T (T), Procter & Gamble (PG), and lastly, a couple of rail companies: CSX (CSX) and Union Pacific (UNP). 

In terms of data, it’s mostly housing figures, but we start the week off with the Empire State Manufacturing numbers and the Housing Market Index Monday. Tuesday, we have Housing Starts and Building Permits. Wednesday, the attention will mostly be on the Beige Book. Thursday and Friday, watch out for weekly Jobless Claims which have been trending higher, the Philly Fed, more housing figures, and the PMI Composite Flash.

Lastly, don’t lose sight of crude oil and the U.S. dollar. Last week, WTI crude futures traded to $83.50 after comments from OPEC, the EIA, and the IEA. Higher crude prices feed into the rising price pressures the Fed’s been forced to reckon with and could weigh on sentiment if the recent rise continues to build momentum. A move back to $90 would be concerning and possibly a headwind to the move up we’ve seen in the indices. AAA reports the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.67, up from $3.60 last week and $3.45 a month ago. The weakening U.S. dollar is a big part of the move up in crude; last week the greenback hit new year lows, with rates off the highs from last fall and strength in the euro contributing to the move lower.

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