Investors await October ISM reading, look ahead to Friday's jobs data. Futures point higher.
November 3, 2003: 6:01 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Investors will be awaiting an early look at the economy's fourth-quarter performance Monday after last week's third-quarter growth numbers were the best in nearly two decades.
S&P and Nasdaq futures pointed to a higher start on Wall Street.
Stocks wrapped up an upbeat week and an unusually strong October in a quiet session Friday.
Pick you adjective -- blistering, scorching, smoking -- the economy's third-quarter performance defied what anybody expected.
Gross domestic product grew at a 7.2 percent clip, the fastest pace since 1984, the government reported late last week. GDP is the broadest measure of the nation's economy.
And with most corporate earnings reports behind us, S&P 500 profits look like they grew by at least 21 percent over last year in the quarter -- the best growth since 2000.
Now, investors will be looking ahead to the fourth quarter.
Their first clue as the economy's performance in October is due Monday with the purchasing managers' reading on manufacturing activity.
Economists expect the The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers' index rose to 55.8 from September's 53.7. Anything over 50 signals expansion in the manufacturing sector.
Also due Monday: car and truck sales, forecast fairly steady with September's pace and September construction spending, seen up 0.2 percent growth -- even with August's pace.
On the earnings front, numbers are due from Kellogg, Metlife and Nationwide.
Overseas, Hong Kong led Asian markets higher Monday, with Tokyo closed for a holiday. Stocks started higher in Europe.
Treasury prices fell, pushing the yield on the 10-year note up to 4.33 percent from 4.29 percent late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in the opposite direction.
Friday's October employment report will be the key number of the week. Economists forecast that the economy added 50,000 jobs in October, against a 57,000 gain in September. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 6.1 percent.
For the stock market, solid economic reports may not be enough to juice things along. Even unexpectedly good news, like that big third-quarter GDP report on Thursday, have done little to move the market, suggesting that investors are as fully invested as they're going to get -- at least for now.
"We had a bucketful of good news, but it was already reflected in stock prices," Credit Suisse Asset Management managing director Stan Nabi said last week. "The market is going to lay back for a bit."
O Clubeinvest.com informa que nenhuma da informação
aqui facultada deverá ser entendida como conselho ou recomendação
de qualquer tipo de transacção ou investimento.
