Markets today: labor data opens a week that ends in payrolls

The week’s labor data starts this morning. Job openings for June arrive at 10 a.m. ET, the first read on hiring before Friday’s payrolls report closes the week. Sitting on top is a full earnings day: seven of the large-cap names Bellwize covers report, from drugmakers to heavy equipment.

On the calendar today

The JOLTS job-openings report lands at 10:00 a.m. ET and is the session’s highest-importance release. The forecast is 7.4 million openings, against 7.594 million the prior month. The report counts unfilled positions across the economy and is read as a gauge of labor demand. Factory orders arrive at the same hour, with a forecast of 0.2% after a 1.3% decline; that series tracks new orders placed with U.S. manufacturers. Earlier, at 8:30 a.m. ET, the June trade balance is due, forecast at a $73 billion deficit versus $77.6 billion before; the same release carries the month’s imports and exports. After the close, at 4:30 p.m. ET, the American Petroleum Institute publishes its weekly crude-oil inventory estimate, last a build of 3.3 million barrels.

Reporting today

Seven covered companies report today: Advanced Micro Devices, Amgen, Caterpillar, EOG Resources, McDonald’s, Merck and Pfizer. The list spans health care, industrials, energy and consumer names.

Backdrop

Stocks closed higher on Monday. The S&P 500 finished at 7,600.50, up 1.48% on the session. The Dow gained 1.32% to 53,178.41. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.13% to 25,913.90, the strongest of the three. The 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.75%. The VIX volatility gauge eased to 15.62.

The week ahead

• Wednesday: the ISM services survey at 10:00 a.m. ET (forecast 54.5, prior 54). Earnings from Eli Lilly, Disney and Shopify.
• Thursday: earnings from ConocoPhillips, Constellation Energy and Airbnb.
• Friday: the July employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET, covering nonfarm payrolls (forecast 80,000, prior 57,000) and the unemployment rate (forecast 4.2%, holding at 4.2%). Earnings from Vistra.

What to watch

Job openings set the morning’s tone. The 10 a.m. figure is the week’s first labor read, and it arrives while futures take in a full slate of corporate results. Two other prints frame the morning: the trade balance at 8:30 a.m. ET and factory orders alongside the openings data at 10.

Energy has its own marker late in the day. The American Petroleum Institute’s weekly crude-oil estimate is due at 4:30 p.m. ET, the first inventory read of the week. The figure is an industry tally of U.S. commercial crude stockpiles.

The earnings run across sectors. Drugmakers, a heavy-equipment maker and an energy producer all report today, a broad cross-section landing in one session.

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