What will drive the markets this week?
On Wall Street, the three major indexes ended the day in positive territory after a turbulent morning of trading. Earlier in the week, all three had taken a hit, with the S&P 500 plunging 3% on Monday as a global sell-off, triggered in Japan, rippled through markets, stoking fears of a U.S. recession. By the close of trading on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had edged up by 51.05 points, or 0.13%, reaching 39,497.54. The S&P 500 gained 24.85 points, or 0.47%, to close at 5,344.16, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 85.28 points, or 0.51%, ending at 16,745.30.
For the week, the S&P 500 dipped 0.04%, the Nasdaq slipped 0.18%, and the Dow fell 0.6%.
In Europe, the main index closed higher on Friday, buoyed by strength in healthcare stocks, marking its fourth consecutive session of gains and rounding off a turbulent week with a slight uptick.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark rose 0.56% on Friday, though it ended the week with a nearly 2.5% loss following a sharp 12.4% drop on Monday.
This week will see the release of new data on inflation, the housing market, and retail sales, following a turbulent period in the markets driven by concerns over the economy’s condition. Several Federal Reserve officials are also scheduled to speak, possibly providing further insights.
Additionally, investors may receive more information on consumer spending trends as major retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) are set to report their earnings.
Events expected to move the markets this week
Monday, August 12
- New York Fed consumer inflation expectations (July)
Tuesday, August 13
- NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (July)
- Producer Price Index (July)
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic delivers remarks
- Home Depot (HD) and SunLife Financial (SLF) report earnings
Wednesday, August 14
- Consumer Price Index (July)
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) and UBS AG (UBS) report earnings
Thursday, August 15
- Initial jobless claims (Week ending August 10)
- Empire State Manufacturing Index (August)
- Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (August)
- Housing market index (August)
- Industrial production and capacity utilization (July)
- Retail sales (July)
- Business inventories (June)
- St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem16 and Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker deliver remarks
- Walmart (WMT), Alibaba Group (BABA), Applied Materials (AMAT), John Deere (DE) and JD.Com (JD) report earnings
Friday, August 16
- Housing starts (July)
- Consumer sentiment - preliminary (August)
- Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee delivers remarks