— U.S. stocks are stumbling into February, and a fresh batch of
economic reports this coming week is likely to dictate investor
sentiment.
After a hefty dose of earnings the past two weeks,
investors will turn to reports from ADP on payrolls, the ISM on
nonmanufacturing growth and U.S. government data on weekly jobless
claims and the nationwide unemployment rate.
Investors, who pushed the Dow Jones Industrial
Average past the 10,720-point mark just after the start of the year,
have grown skeptical about the strength of the global economic rebound.
The U.S. stock market has endured three straight weekly losses.
“The market is confirming that it will be a slow recovery,” said financial adviser
In January, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the
S&P 500 Index both slid more than 3 percent. The Nasdaq Composite
Index fell more than 5 percent in January.
The Dow closed Friday at 10,067, the S&P at 1,074 and the Nasdaq at 2,147.
Year to date, by S&P industry sector, share
returns for information technology are down 6.5 percent; materials are
down 7.3 percent. In energy, the decline is 3 percent and in consumer
staples it’s down 1 percent. Financials are down 0.77 percent. Health
care is up almost 1 percent.
“As the calendar opens to the new trading month, we
expect that more of the same lies ahead, at least until further clarity
is gained as to what the impact of central-bank policy adjustments
around the world will have on global growth,” wrote
On the economic data front,
On Wednesday, in the U.S., payroll services firm ADP
will release its January employment data. Another market mover could be
the ISM nonmanufacturing report, a broad gauge of economic activity.
The ISM services index moved back into growth territory in December,
but has seesawed in recent months.
“It’s improving, but has lagged manufacturing,”
Other reports include the U.S. weekly jobless claims
on Thursday, followed on Friday by U.S. nonfarm-payrolls data and the
latest reading on the unemployment rate.
The week of Feb.
week” of fourth-quarter earnings reports, with three Dow components and
94 S&P 500 companies scheduled to release results, according to
Technology bellwether
Through
Here’s the scorecard so far: 78 percent of the 220 companies reported earnings above analysts’ expectations, according to
But global events seem to have eclipsed earnings news. Through
For companies that beat
forecasts, their stocks gained 0.8 percent, on average. Shares of
companies that missed the consensus estimate fell 2.89 percent.
—
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