Who thought it was possible?
After six up days in a row, nothing seemed to be able to take the market down. But down we went yesterday. The S&P 500 declined a whole 0.3%, which isn’t much but a down day nevertheless.
At the same time it was not a down day for every stock. Breadth was actually quite mixed. While the number of S&P 500 constituents that were up was similar to those down, Nasdaq members were lower to the tune of 2 to 1.
Today is a new day, however, and stocks are looking higher.
S&P 500 futures are up 0.11% and Nasdaq is set to gain 0.21%. These are not big numbers, but we’ve got to go back to June to find a move greater than 1%. Yes, the market has been going up but at a very slim rate of change. More like easing through traffic than ripping higher on an interstate.
That all could change later today. Why? It’s Fed day! The members of the Federal Reserve Board’s policy-making Federal Open Market Committee will let us know what they’re thinking about the economy and tell us whether they’ll lower the Federal Funds Rate, which would have a waterfall effect throughout the economy. As we know, President Trump wants the rate lowered, but Chairman Jerome Powell isn’t so sure that it’s necessary.
And perhaps Powell is right. One of the Fed’s mandates is to make sure that employment isn’t too hot or too cold. Today’s ADP Employment Change came in at a hotter than expected 104,000, indicating that employers are hiring.
GDP, too, came in at 3%, above expectations of 2.4%. So, the economy has yet to feel the sting of tariffs.
Here’s a list of today’s key economic data, including actual results where they’ve been reported. (All times are Mountain Time; add 2 hours for EDT.)
It’s also earnings season, so we’ve got several of those to report on today, too. Look for additional coverage throughout the day on TheStreet and TheStreet Pro, but here’s a list of the top 20 largest companies that have reported so far today.
But it’s the big dogs that we’ll be waiting for. Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) will be reporting after the close, as well as meme stock trader favorite Robinhood (HOOD) . Again, it’s a big list, so here are the 20 largest to watch for after the close today.
Have a great day and watch this space for more.
