What To Expect in the Markets This Week

Markets will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on Monday. After that, investors will be focused on key labor market data, primarily the Friday release of the August jobs report.

Earnings reports this week are again led by a chipmaker, with Broadcom’s (AVGO) financials on Thursday, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Zscaler (ZS), and Samsara (IOT) are other noteworthy tech companies also on deck. Investors will also hear from retailers Dollar Tree (DLTR), Big Lots (BIG) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS).

Monday, Sept. 2

• Markets closed for the Labor Day holiday

Tuesday, Sept. 3

• S&P manufacturing PMI (August)
• ISM manufacturing (August)
• Construction spending (July)
• Zscaler and GitLab (GTLB) report earnings

Wednesday, Sept. 4

• Trade deficit (July)
• Job openings (July)
• Factory orders (July)
• Federal Reserve Beige Book
• Copart (CPRT), Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Dollar Tree, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Hormel Foods (HRL) report earnings 

Thursday, Sept. 5

• Initial jobless claims (Aug 31)
• ADP employment (July)
• U.S. productivity and costs (Second-quarter revisions)
• S&P services PMI (August)
• ISM services (August)
• Broadcom, Samsara, Guidewire Software (GWRE), and DocuSign (DOCU) report earnings

Friday, Sept. 6

• U.S. employment report (August)
• Final day before Federal Reserve officials’ public-speaking blackout period
• BRP (DOOO) and Big Lots report earnings 

Jobs Report Gives Fed Last Look at Labor Market Before Meeting

With the focus turning to jobs, Federal Reserve officials will get one last look at the labor market when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases August employment and wage numbers on Friday.  Last month’s report showed an unexpected jump in the unemployment rate to 4.3%, unsettling the markets and raising questions about whether the Fed missed its opportunity to cut rates at its July meeting.

Since then, jobless claims have been fairly steady and close to expectations. However unexpected movements in the data could raise more questions about how the Federal Reserve will cut rates at its Sept. 17-18 meeting. Wednesday’s job openings report, Thursday’s private-sector ADP employment report, and weekly jobless claims data will set the stage for the Friday labor report.  

Chipmaker Broadcom Leads Tech, Retail Earnings

Following the momentum from last week’s market focus on Nvidia (NVDA), another chipmaker will take the spotlight when Broadcom reports its earnings on Thursday. Nvidia slid despite a beat on its earnings, and Broadcom’s report comes after its recent 10-for-1 stock split.

Market watchers will have other tech earnings to study this week, including additional Thursday reports from Samsara, Guidewire Software, and DocuSign. Hewlett Packard Enterprise headlines Wednesday’s report schedule as the server provider looked to continue to stoke results with earnings from its artificial intelligence (AI) products. Cybersecurity provider Zscaler and software platform GitLab report on Tuesday. 

A handful of value retailers are scheduled to deliver reports this week, including Dollar Tree, which is coming off a disappointing prior quarter, and Big Lots, whose report comes on the heels of talk of bankruptcy amid a decline in its home and furniture sales.