LIVE MARKETS-US stocks end mixed ahead of earnings, data
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US STOCKS END MIXED AHEAD OF EARNINGS, DATA
Wall Street shuffled to a mixed close on Monday, with very few catalysts — aside from spiking oil prices — to move sentiment at the top of what promises to be a week chock-full of catalysts.
The S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC slipped, the latter suffering the steeper loss due to a 2.7% drop in chip stocks .SOX.
Respectively, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are now 0.2% and 1.3% below their all-time closing highs reached last week. The Dow .DJI closed 4.6% below its record high reached on August 5.
Weakness was concentrated. A glance at the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 shows enough green to suggest a rally, with eight of them ending green.
But a 0.9% drop in tech shares .SPLRCT and a 0.7% dip in consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD were enough to spoil the whole bunch.
Front-month WTI and Brent crude futures settled up 2.1% and 1.8%, respectively, as attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia, along with a hurricane-induced reduction of production in the Gulf of Mexico, stoked enough supply concerns for investors to look past President Trump's announced diesel deal with Moscow.
Energy shares .SPNY outperformed, as did communication services .SPLRCL and regional banks .KRX, while airlines .SPCOMAIR and homebuilders .SPCOMHOME joined chips at the bottom of the heap.
On Tuesday, results from financial firms Goldman Sachs GS.N, JPMorgan Chase JPM.N, Citigroup C.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N mark the unofficial launch of third-quarter reporting season.
The expectations bar is very high; analysts currently see Q3 year-on-year S&P 500 earnings growth of 30.6%, in aggregate, according to the most recent LSEG data. But considering Q2's 53.7% annual growth, perhaps corporate America can clear that bar.
On the economics front, the National Federation of Independent Business is due to release its small business optimism index, and the National Association of Realtors is slated to unveil its September existing home sales report.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Labor Department is set to unleash two inflation reports — CPI and PPI — which could move the needle regarding Fed rate hike expectations.
Here's your closing snapshot:
(Stephen Culp)
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