SPX: modest pullback, eyes on jobs

During the previous week a small correction occurred on the US equity markets. The S&P 500 slipped down to the level of 6.570 on Thursday, but ended the week at 6.643. Regardless of a modest correction, the index is still moving close to the overbought territory. The key U.S. economic indicator this week was the August PCE Price Index. It rose 0.3% month-over-month, pushing the annual rate to 2.7%. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2% m/m and 2.9% y/y. As per CME Fed WatchTool investors are continuing to price two rate cuts till the end of this year.

Among the biggest losers in the index was CarMax, whose stock plunged around 20 % after disappointing earnings and weak commentary about demand and inventory pressures. Oracle also underperformed, falling 5.6 % after concerns were raised over optimistic cloud growth projections. On the upside, Intel was a top gainer in the S&P 500 that day, surging 8.9 %, driven by reports of possible investment talks with Apple. IBM also posted a strong gain (5.2 %), buoyed by optimism around applying its quantum computing capabilities to bond trading.

The week ahead will be focused on US jobs data. The JOLTs Job Openings in August and Unemployment rate will be posted. This might bring again some higher volatility to the US stock markets, especially if data do not meet investors expectations.