The final trading week before the election featured significant news. The data provided will likely have a long-term ripple effect on the markets themselves as well as provide fodder for both major candidates in the days before the final voting begins.
Tuesday saw the first two major news releases in the form of the CB Consumer Confidence report as well as the Jobs and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Consumer confidence came in at 108.7 for the month of October, which was significantly higher than the expected 99.5 and was also higher than last month’s revised reading of 99.2.
The JOLTS report found that there were 7.44 million open positions in the United States, which was lower than the expected 7.98 million. It was also lower than last month’s figure of 7.86 million. When taken together, it can be inferred that consumers will keep on spending even as the labor market continues to tighten.
The advance GDP figure for the previous quarter was also released Wednesday. It found that the economy grew at a 2.8 percent pace compared to an expected 3 percent pace. Finally on Wednesday, it was revealed that pending home sales increased 7.4 percent compared to last month. On Thursday, the Core PCE Price Index came in at .3 percent for the last month, which matched analyst expectations.
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) came out with its nonfarm payroll report. It found that the economy added 12,000 jobs in October compared to an expected 106,000. The hurricanes that hit North Carolina and Florida in recent weeks are cited as one of the primary reasons for the weak job growth.
In addition, it was reported that the unemployment rate remained at 4.1 percent while average hourly earnings increased by .4 percent. The unemployment figure matched analyst expectations while wage growth was slightly higher than the .3 percent predicted prior to the report’s release.
The S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent this week to close at 5,728. On Wednesday, the market made a high of 5,849 before collapsing to the low of the week established just before the close of business on Thursday. Just before the close of Thursday’s session, the market dipped to 5,715.
The Dow closed 0.15 percent lower on the week to finish at 42,052. It hit its high of the week on Wednesday afternoon when it climbed to 42,429 and would reach its low of the week on Thursday when the Dow dipped to 41,724.
Finally, the Nasdaq fell 1.5 percent this week to close at 18,239. On Wednesday morning, it reached a high of 18,774 before reversing and hitting its weekly low 18,114 on Thursday afternoon.
In international news, Australia announced on Tuesday that its inflation rate was 2.1 percent on an annualized basis compared to an expected 2.3 percent. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced on Thursday that it would keep its key interest rate at around .25 percent. On Friday morning, Canada announced that its GDP growth was flat over the last quarter, which was what analysts expected before the information was made public.
This upcoming week will likely feature a lot of volatility as the race for the White House concludes. The Fed will be making an interest rate decision on Thursday. International traders may be looking forward to Australia’s interest rate decision Monday night as well as Great Britain’s rate decision coming on Thursday.