Monday's Market Minute: A Slow Start To A Busy Week

With Japan and China closed and providing limited influence overnight, U.S. indices are negative ahead of the cash open to begin the week, suggesting a lower open for stocks on Wall Street. Tensions between U.S. and China increased after President Donald Trump and senior advisor Mike Pompeo this weekend furthered accusations the Covid-19 virus could have come from Wuhan, China and could have been man-made.

Here in the U.S. the number of infected daily has fallen below the weekly average, providing some encouraging news – the weekly average is 2.7%, the daily currently stands at 2.3%. This week investors should be keeping an eye on the roughly 150 S&P 500 companies set to report quarterly results.

On Thursday we have weekly jobless claims, and Friday non-farm payrolls. We also have the Bank of England and the Bank of Australia announcing interest rate policy. Oil is lower ahead of the open with OPEC+ cuts taking effect this month; it will be key to see if prices stabilize in response to production cuts. I would watch the EIA report Wednesday, to see if storage and inventory builds continue to raise concerns and push prices. Gold is back above $1,700 – with the U.S. teetering around the mid-99 level – and mostly sideways the last few weeks, finding comfort at these levels. Headline news should be watched closely this week, so keep an eye on the TD Ameritrade Network for coverage of all the breaking news and market reaction.