Markets today: chip stocks in focus into Nvidia's week

Chips are on the back foot. The group led Monday’s decliners, two days before Nvidia reports Wednesday alongside the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge and a second estimate of second-quarter growth. Today’s calendar fills in around that setup without a top-tier release of its own, led by a fresh read on home prices and a look at consumer confidence.

On the calendar today

Every scheduled U.S. release today ranks medium in importance. The Fed’s Barkin speaks twice, first at 8:00 a.m. ET and again at 4:00 p.m. ET. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index lands at 9:00 a.m. ET, with the annual gauge seen at 1.7 percent against a prior 1.6 percent. The 10:00 a.m. ET hour carries the day’s heaviest data: new home sales, forecast at 0.62 million versus 0.628 million previously, and the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence index, seen easing to 90.2 from 90.8. A weekly ADP employment reading is due at 8:15 a.m. ET, and the American Petroleum Institute’s crude inventories close the docket at 4:30 p.m. ET.

No company in Bellwize’s coverage reports today.

Where Monday left off

Stocks closed Monday mixed. The S&P 500 slipped 0.28 percent to 7,652.86 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.76 percent to 25,980, while the Dow added 0.26 percent to 53,417.16. Chip stocks did most of the damage. Micron fell nearly 6 percent and Advanced Micro Devices dropped 3.5 percent, dragging the Nasdaq. Payment networks ran the other way, with Mastercard and Visa each closing more than 3 percent higher. The VIX held at 15.75, and the 10-year Treasury yield settled at 4.74 percent.

The week ahead

• Wednesday carries the week’s weight. At 8:30 a.m. ET the schedule stacks several releases into one window: the core PCE price index (forecast 0.2 percent, prior 0.1 percent), the second estimate of second-quarter GDP (seen at 1.5 percent, down from 2.1 percent), durable goods orders, and personal income and spending figures. Three covered companies report: Nvidia, CrowdStrike and Salesforce.
• Friday brings two high-importance items at 10:00 a.m. ET: a speech from Fed Chair Warsh and a preliminary annual benchmark revision to nonfarm payrolls, the yearly recalibration of the payroll count against fuller records.

What to watch

Consumer confidence at 10:00 a.m. ET is the closest thing the day offers to a market-moving number, with the Conference Board’s index seen slipping to 90.2 after 90.8 last month. The morning’s housing data lands just ahead of it, the Case-Shiller reading at 9:00 and new home sales at 10:00. The semiconductors stay in the frame after Monday’s selloff. The group ran as one of the most-covered corners of the overnight tape, drawing steady attention across the wires. None of today’s medium-grade releases reshapes the week. The heavy data waits for Wednesday.

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