A mixed week for the stock market left the confirmed uptrend intact heading into the three-day Memorial Day weekend. Markets are closed on Monday, meaning just two trading days left in May — not to mention the deadline for the federal debt ceiling negotiations. Investors will have an eye on the Labor Department’s payrolls report on Friday, as well as earnings from Dow Jones heavyweight Salesforce.com (CRM) and fabless chip giant Broadcom (AVGO). The debt ceiling talks will remain center stage, and a deal reached or talks abandoned during the week would very likely have an impact on the market’s behavior.
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Stocks To Watch: Five Stocks Near Buy Points
Leadership has been narrow in the stock market’s confirmed uptrend, but a number of stocks are acting well. That’s particularly in the chip and software spaces, which just received a boost this past week from Nvidia‘s (NVDA) earnings report. Arista Networks (ANET) and Mobileye (MBLY) are flashing early entries after breaking badly on earnings several weeks ago. Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) soared past early entries as well on artificial intelligence chip buzz, although a pause might be constructive. Health products distributor McKesson (MCK) has shaped a short handle on a seven-month cup base. And a three-week advance has lifted Smartsheet (SMAR) to just below a buy point with earnings ahead.
Econ Calendar:
With markets now betting on a rate hike at the June 13-14 Fed meeting after hotter-than-expected inflation in April, the stakes are really high for Friday’s jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists are forecasting a 180,000 jobs increase in the payrolls report as the unemployment rate ticks up to 3.5%. Wage growth is seen rising 0.4%, which is still too hot for the Fed.
The Key Fed Inflation Rate Heats Up, Lifting Rate-Hike Odds; The S&P 500 Shakes It Off
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey is out Wednesday at 10 a.m. It will offer important indications of how tight the job market is. Another dive in job openings would be good news for the Fed, but economists are…
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