Yahoo Finance Consumer sentiment — What you need to know in markets on Friday
The final trading day of the week, month, quarter, and half-year is here.
On Friday, markets will say goodbye to what’s been a rocky quarter and a much more interesting start to 2018 than the relatively placid market conditions that prevailed throughout 2017.
Each of the major indexes logged green closes on Thursday, with the Nasdaq’s 0.8% advance leading the way while the S&P 500 added 0.6% and the Dow rose 0.4%. The small cap Russell 2000 added 0.3%.
Year-to-date, the S&P 500 is up 1.6%, the Nasdaq is up a robust 8.7%, while the Dow is in red numbers for the year, having shed 2% through the close of business on Thursday.
Friday’s economic and earnings calendar will bring investors some notable economic reports on inflation and consumer sentiment while earnings out of Constellation Brands (STZ) will be the only results from the S&P 500.
On the economics side, May data on personal income and spending, as well as the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure — “core” PCE — are expected out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are expecting the Fed’s inflation gauge to rise 1.9% over the prior year in May, just below the central bank’s 2% inflation target.
Consumer sentiment data from the University of Michigan will also be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, with this report potentially giving investors insight into how the current trade war is impacting U.S. consumers.
This economic data also comes as Citi’s U.S. Economic Surprise Index fell into negative territory for the first time in 188 days, snapping the longest winning streak in the index’s 15-year history, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
And so while a negative turn in Citi’s index merely indicates that economic data is coming in worse than expected — and not that the economy is actually turning south — it is notable that data has begun to miss expectations as trade tensions ramp up.
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Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland
