Alibaba, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Baidu, Fed Minutes, and More: What to Watch This Week

Dow Jones07:00

Equities were little changed in a quiet stretch of trading last week, with the S&P 500 index rising 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite edging up 0.1%. The S&P 500's largest single-day move was a 0.65% gain on Thursday, when it reached its 27th record close of the year. The Nasdaq failed to log a daily move of 1% or more, in either direction, for the first time since the week ending May 1.

The calm could continue this week, as there won't be any tier-one economic data releases. The Census Bureau will report residential construction data on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the Federal Open Market Committee will release the minutes from its meeting in late July. S&P Global will release its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Indexes on Friday.

Twelve S&P 500 companies will report quarterly results this week, with retailers taking center stage. Home Depot will announce earnings on Tuesday, followed by Lowe's, Target, and TJX Cos. on Wednesday. Walmart will report on Thursday.

Monday 8/17

The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for August. Consensus estimate is for a 33 reading, one point less than in July. Readings below 50 indicate that homebuilders are pessimistic about the near-term prospects of the single-family housing market.

Tuesday 8/18

Baidu, Home Depot, Jack Henry & Associates, Keysight Technologies, Klarna Group, and Toll Brothers report quarterly results.

The Census Bureau reports new residential construction data for July. Economists forecast a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.35 million privately-owned housing starts, roughly 80,000 fewer than in June.

The National Association of Realtors releases its Pending Home Sales Index for July. The PHS index, a leading indicator of housing activity, is expected to rise 0.1% month over month, after a 5.4% decline in June.

Wednesday 8/19

Analog Devices, Estee Lauder, Lowe's, Nordson, Target, TJX Cos., and Viking Holdings release earnings.

The Federal Open Market Committee releases the minutes from its late-July monetary-policy meeting. At that time, the central bank kept the federal-funds rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, with three FOMC members dissenting in favor of a quarter-point interest-rate hike.

Thursday 8/20

Alibaba Group Holding, Deere, NetEase, Ross Stores, and Walmart announce quarterly results.

Friday 8/21

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings reports earnings.

S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Indexes for August. Consensus estimates are for a 53.7 reading for the Manufacturing PMI and a 53.9 for the Services PMI. This compares with readings of 53.9 and 54.6, respectively, in July.

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