Wall Street ended mostly lower, hurt by a surging dollar as investors grappled with the possible timing of an interest rate hike after comments from several Federal Reserve officials, including Chair Janet Yellen. Treasury yields rose after more hawkish but non-committal comments from the Fed Chair. Oil and gold prices were little changed in a volatile trading session.
On the other hand next week is going to be busy:
Manufacturing and employment reports on tap. Reports on Tuesday are expected to show that the Conference Board’s consumer confidence was little changed in August and the Case Shiller/S&P house price index rose 5.1 percent in the 12 months to June. On Wednesday, payrolls processor ADP is expected to report that private employers hired 171,000 workers in August, after adding 179,000 jobs in July. Also on Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors is seen reporting that contracts to buy previously owned homes increased 0.6 percent in July, after rising 0.2 percent in June.
Data from the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday is expected to confirm that productivity declined at a 0.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter. The same day, the Institute for Supply Management is seen reporting that its national factory activity index was little changed, staying near August’s reading of 52. In the U.S. Commerce Department’s data on construction spending, a rebound of 0.5 percent is expected in July after a fall of 0.6 percent in June. On Friday, data from the U.S. Labor Department is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls rose 180,000 in August after surging 255,000 in July. The unemployment rate is forecast dipping to 4.8 percent from 4.9 percent. Also on Friday, reports from the U.S. Commerce Department are expected to show that trade deficit shrank to $43.0 billion in July from $44.5 billion in June, and factory orders bounced back 2.0 percent after declining 1.5 percent in June.
