Amid the intensifying Middle East conflict and climbing crude oil prices, Wall Street investors face a plenty of economic indicators to evaluate in the week ahead.
Oil prices are set to rise further as the war involving Iran
triggers massive supply shocks: leading exporters are scaling back production as storage reaches capacity and the primary maritime route for global fuel markets remains effectively blocked.
The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have already initiated output cuts as reserves overflow, following Iraq, where production has plummeted by approximately 60%. Brent crude on Friday topped $90 a barrel, a sharp increase from the $70 level seen before the February 28 offensives.
Regarding the economic schedule, the main highlight will be February’s consumer price inflation. Beyond this, investors will scrutinize the January PCE index — the Federal Reserve’s chosen metric for tracking inflation — alongside personal income & spending reports.
On the corporate side, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, Adobe, and BioNTech are scheduled to release their quarterly earnings.
US Economic Calendar
March 9 (Monday), None scheduled.
March 10 (Tuesday), data on NFIB optimism index for February and existing home sales for February will be declared.
March 11 (Wednesday), separate reports on Consumer Price Index for February and monthly US federal budget for February will be released.
March 12 (Thursday), separate reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended March 7, US trade deficit for January, housing starts for February, building permits for February will be released.
March 13 (Friday), separate reports on gross domestic product (GDP) first revision Q4, personal income and spending for January, PCE index (delayed report) for January, durable goods orders for January, job openings for January, consumer sentiment (prelim) for March will be released.
Q4 Earnings
Following companies are due to report fourth quarter results in the week ahead — Hewlett Packard, Oracle, BioNTech, Adobe, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Lennar, and Ulta Beauty.
US Stock Market Last Week
US stock indices ended lower on Friday as oil prices shot to its highest level since 2023 due to ongoing Iran war, and a weak update on the US labor market.
The combination of a weak economy and high inflation is a worst-case scenario for investors because the Federal Reserve has no good tool to fix both problems at the same time.
On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 90.69 points, or 1.3%, to 6,740.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 453.19 points, or 0.9%, to 47,501.55. The Nasdaq composite fell 361.31 points, or 1.6%, to 22,387.68.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 60.27 points, or 2.3% to 2,525.30.
For the week, the S&P 500 is down 138.86 points, or 2%. The Dow is down 1,476.37 points, or 3%. The Nasdaq is down 280.53 points, or 1.2%.
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