Markets today: a holiday pause before an inflation week

A federal-holiday session opens with a nearly empty calendar, as the market looks to Wednesday's Consumer Price Index and the start of big-bank earnings.

Wall Street opens a holiday session with the week’s real business still ahead. Today is the Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day federal holiday, which keeps the bond market closed and leaves the economic calendar nearly bare. The focus sits on Wednesday, when the Consumer Price Index lands, and on the banks, whose latest quarterly results begin Tuesday with JPMorgan Chase. One Fed speaker rounds out an otherwise empty slate today. The quiet ends Tuesday.

On the calendar today

Hammack speaks at 12:50 p.m. ET, the only item on today’s schedule. The slate is otherwise empty. There are no economic releases, and no earnings from the companies Bellwize covers are due. With the bond market shut for the holiday, equity trading carries the session on its own. The calendar fills quickly from tomorrow.

Stocks closed last week higher

All three major gauges rose Friday. The S&P 500 added 0.59% to 7,811.54. The Dow gained 0.83%, or 423.31 points, to 51,654.95, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.64% to 27,366.17. The Cboe Volatility Index rose 4.25% to 15.47, a subdued level even after the move. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.22%, down six basis points.

Beneath the index gains, the moves were uneven. Snowflake led the advancers, up 7.4%, with Palantir and Palo Alto Networks each higher by more than 5%. Telecom went the other way. T-Mobile US dropped 13.3%, while AT&T and Verizon each lost more than 10%.

The week ahead

Tuesday, Oct. 13: existing home sales at 10:00 a.m. ET; JPMorgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, and UnitedHealth Group report.
Wednesday, Oct. 14: the Consumer Price Index at 8:30 a.m. ET; Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock report.
Thursday, Oct. 15: the Producer Price Index and retail sales, both at 8:30 a.m. ET; Charles Schwab reports.
Friday, Oct. 16: Fed Chair Warsh speaks.

What to watch

Hammack delivers the week’s first word from a policymaker before Wednesday’s inflation reading and the run of Fed speakers that follows it. Traders will listen for how officials weigh price pressures against the jobs market. The remarks land midday, well after the open. With no data on the tape, that speech is the session’s main scheduled input, and the market will read it for any shift in tone ahead of the week’s releases.

The rates backdrop stays in focus. The 10-year Treasury yield closed Friday at 5.22%, and the bond market reopens Tuesday after today’s holiday. Volatility is low, with the VIX at 15.47. Those two readings describe a calm tape heading into a heavier calendar. Where yields settle as the inflation data approaches will set much of the tone for stocks through the week.

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