Markets today: Earnings from GM and Charles Schwab lead a thin economic calendar

Corporate results carry Tuesday’s session. General Motors and Charles Schwab both report, and with the economic calendar down to two medium-importance releases, their numbers stand as the day’s clearest scheduled events. The setup puts corporate earnings at the front of a quiet data day.

On the calendar today

The data docket is thin. The weekly ADP employment change, a high-frequency read on private hiring, prints at 8:15 a.m. ET, before the bell, with the prior reading at 19.75. After the close, at 4:30 p.m. ET, the API crude oil stock change offers the week’s first look at domestic oil inventories; it is forecast at a 1.5 million-barrel draw, following a 0.564 million-barrel draw the week before. Both releases carry medium importance, and neither ranks among the top-tier market movers on its own. With no high-importance prints on the schedule, the calendar sits quieter than a typical Tuesday.

Reporting today

Two names report Tuesday. General Motors and Charles Schwab are both scheduled to post results, putting the automaker and the brokerage at the front of the session’s corporate slate. They are the only names on the earnings calendar drawn from the large-cap group Bellwize tracks, which keeps the day’s company news concentrated in two reports.

Backdrop

Stocks closed lower on Monday. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 7,443.28, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 51,839.26. The Nasdaq Composite finished little changed, down less than 0.1% at 25,508.07. The Cboe Volatility Index fell 0.90 point to 17.75, and the 10-year Treasury yield eased two basis points to 4.55%. The pullback left all three major averages modestly in the red heading into Tuesday.

What to watch

• Results lead the slate. With the economic calendar limited to two medium-importance prints, the reports from General Motors and Charles Schwab are the session’s headline scheduled events.
• A jobs read before the open. The weekly ADP employment figure at 8:15 a.m. ET is one of the few data points landing ahead of the opening bell, with the prior reading at 19.75 for reference.
• Oil inventories after the bell. The API crude oil stock change at 4:30 p.m. ET rounds out the day’s scheduled releases, with a 1.5 million-barrel draw penciled in against last week’s 0.564 million-barrel draw.

It is the reaction to these scheduled reports and releases, rather than any single figure, that tends to set the tone for the tape.

This is a general-market summary for information only — not investment advice, and not a recommendation regarding any security.