4 Reasons Why Stocks on Wall Street Could Be in For a Volatile August
Stocks on Wall Street are on pace to end July on solid footing as a recent batch of upbeat economic data and robust corporate earnings helped ease recession fears.
The economically sensitive Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks is on track to come out on top in July, with a gain of 3.4% heading into the final two trading sessions of the month.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is about 2.5% higher for the month.
Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are both up around 2% this month and are on track to book their fifth straight monthly advances.
In fact, August has been the U.S. stock market’s worst month on average, dating back to 1986. The Dow’s average August return over the past 35 years is negative -0.67%, compared to an average gain of +1.05% for the other months of the calendar.
With investors continuing to gauge the outlook for interest rates, inflation, and the economy, a lot will be on the line in the month ahead. As such, here are key dates to watch as the calendar flips to August:
The first big piece of data to come out after the Fed’s policy meeting will be the U.S. jobs report and it will likely be key in determining the U.S. central bank’s next move.
The Labor Department will release the highly anticipated July jobs report on Friday, August 4, at 8:30 AM ET. Forecasts center around a continued solid pace of hiring, even if the increase is smaller than in previous months.
The consensus estimate is that the data will show the U.S. economy added 190,000 positions, according to Investing.com, slowing from jobs growth of 209,000 in June.
The unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 3.6%, staying close to a recent 53-year low of 3.4%. Fed officials have signaled
Read more on investing.com
