Monday's Market Minute: A Little Something For Everyone

Looks like another busy week in terms of economic data with the potential to move markets. The focus is primarily on jobs, but inflation and consumer spending habits will also be closely watched. The week begins with the JOLTS report Monday. We ended last week Friday with a better-than-expected employment report, and while last month the number of job openings increased from 5 million to 5.4 million, it’s still at a four-year low. Tuesday, things will heat up at a rapid rate with PPI – Producer Price Index – providing insight as to whether or not we’re starting to see inflationary pressures from the producers’ standpoint.

Wednesday, the focus will be on the consumer as CPI will probably be first and foremost on the minds of traders. But, hold on to your hats, because while the weekly jobs report Thursday will be watched by many as employment here in the U.S. is improving, we’ll want to see if retail sales spending is as well.

Retail Sales is Friday this week, and spending habits during the pandemic are key to stay on top of in order to formulate a bigger-picture understanding of what’s playing out in terms of recovery efforts. So, a little something-something for everyone, as I like to say. Headed into the data this week, U.S. indices have pulled back off recent highs as the tech rally has slowed, but the U.S. Dollar and Gold should be watched – the Dollar fell to multi-year lows and Gold is trading at record highs.

Stay tuned to the TD Ameritrade Network this week for coverage of all the numbers and market reaction to them.

Photo by Roberto Júnior on Unsplash