Next week will give investors a good idea of how the economy is recovering
The market has come a long way since last year's lockdowns sent the globe into frenzy, with many wondering how the economy could ever recover from such a dramatic shutdown. Now, with a vaccine rollout gaining momentum, and more government stimulus dropping into Americans' bank accounts, many are eyeing a slow return to some sort of normalcy, with a slew of economic indicators acting as a sort of guidebook each week, giving investors a better idea of just how far things have come since last March.
Next week will be jam packed with these indicators, including new and existing home sales, data on goods orders, the Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), and of course, another round of weekly jobless claims. Inflation data on Friday will also be closely watched, as interest rates and inflation continue to have a strong sway over market movement. On the earnings front, things will be quiet, though several reports will trickle out from Adobe (ADBE), Carnival (CCL), GameStop (GME), Jefferies (JEF), KB Home (KBH), and Tencent Music (TME).
Below is a list of key market events scheduled for the upcoming week. All economic dates listed below are tentative and subject to change.
Existing home sales are due out on Monday, Mar. 22.
Tuesday, Mar. 23 will bring new home sales.
Things will pick up on Wednesday, Mar. 24, with core durable goods orders, core capital goods orders, the manufacturing PMI, the Markit composite PMI on the docket.
Another round of jobless claims will kick things off on Thursday, Mar. 25, along with the latest gross domestic product (GDP) reading.
An onslaught of economic data is due out on Friday, Mar. 26, including reports on personal income, consumer spending, core inflation, trade in goods and the consumer sentiment index.