12/08/24 Briefing

US stocks closed mixed on Monday as Wall Street braced for a week full of key economic data signals.

The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) hugged the flat line while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose about 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped roughly 0.4%, or less than 150 points.

In single stock moves, Nvidia (NVDA) finished the day about 4% higher, sparking a rally in the tech sector.

Wall Street is coming off a whipsaw weekthat has left markets jumpy and "on edge." Though the major indexes practically ended last week where they had started, it didn't come without volatility throughout the week.

Strategists say that is likely to continue — and this week comes with plenty of opportunities. Wednesday provides a fresh look at the state of inflation with the latest release of the Consumer Price Index. Then Thursday comes with two key signals on the state of the US consumer: a reading on July's retail sales and Walmart (WMT) earnings.

Wall Street once again sees good news as good news, so volatility this week may depend on the signals those data introduce.

Either way, though, markets are seeing a slowing economy, which has shifted the debate from whether the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates in September to how much it should cut them. A small majority of traders expects a 25 basis point cut next month, while the balance — around 48% — see a bigger 50 basis point cut coming.