What Should Clients Do in This Environment?
What’s in Today’s Report:
- What Should Clients Do in This Environment?
- S&P 500 Approaching Key Support: Chart
- JOLTS Data Takeaways – Labor Market Remains Tight
Stock futures pulled back from overnight gains and are now trading flat as most international markets are lower following mixed economic data.
Japanese Retail Sales and Industrial Production figures both handily topped estimates but the August HICP Flash in Europe (their CPI equivalent) showed core inflation jumped 4.3% vs. (E) 4.0%, reiterating inflation risks.
Today, the early focus will be on the ADP Employment Report (E: 200K) which will be the first one since they updated the methodology of the report so be prepared for a potentially surprising print.
From a market standpoint, traders will want to see a moderation in the labor market (especially after yesterday’s JOLTS report) to show the Fed’s tightening actions are beginning to cool the labor market which is one of the key steps towards reaching “peak hawkishness.”
There are also a few Fed speakers to watch today: Mester (8:00 a.m. ET), Logan (6:00 p.m. ET), and Bostic (6:30 p.m. ET) and the market would welcome any degree of less hawkish commentary as the more hawkish tone of the last week has been largely responsible for the equity market losses into the end of the month.
