fundamental News - SP500
U.S. stock index futures were about unchanged during overnight trading
on Sunday, after the major averages posted their best week in months
amid a stronger-than-expected start to earnings season.
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed
just 23 points. S&P 500 futures lost 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures
lost 0.2%.
The major averages are coming off a winning week. The Dow advanced
382 points on Friday, ending the week with a 1.58% gain for its best
week since June. The S&P 500 rose 1.82% last week for its best week
since July, while the Nasdaq Composite saw its best
week since the end of August, with the tech-heavy index adding 2.18%.
In addition to better-than-expected earnings from Goldman Sachs on
Friday, positive economic data also boosted stocks. Retail sales rose
0.7% in September, the Census Bureau said Friday, while economists
surveyed by Dow Jones were expecting a decline of
0.2%.
“Wall Street was expecting a slowdown in spending, but it turns out
the U.S. consumer is not to be messed with,” said Edward Moya, senior
market analyst at Oanda. “Back-to-back months of better-than-expected
retail sales data shows the consumer looks strong
heading into the holiday season,” he added.
Earnings season is now in full swing, and a number of big names are
set to report in the coming week, including Netflix, Johnson &
Johnson, United Airlines and Procter & Gamble on Tuesday. Tesla,
Verizon and IBM are among the other names on deck for the
week.
So far 41 S&P 500 components have reported third-quarter
results, with 80% of them topping EPS expectations, according to data
from FactSet. Taking into account the companies that have already
reported and estimates for the rest, third-quarter profit growth
will total 30%, the third highest quarterly growth rate for S&P 500
companies since 2010, according to FactSet.
Strong results from the first week of earnings, including from the
largest banks, have pushed the major averages to within striking
distance of their all-time highs. The Dow is less than 1% from its
record high, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are
1.6% and 3.3% below their records respectively.
As earnings season gets into full swing, investors will be watching
for company commentary around supply chain bottlenecks and inflation,
among other things.
“Growth in 2022 seems likely to be lifted by the lagged impacts of
monetary stimulus, the lagged impacts of surging Consumer Net Worth,
reopening, and inventory rebuilding,” Ed Hyman, Evercore ISI Chairman,
wrote in a note to clients Sunday. “Supply chain
problems are likely to ease, and unfilled demand from this year is
likely to be met next year. Wages are likely to increase, lifting
consumer incomes,” he added.
expectation today: bullish
