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Geopolitical Risks Keep Oil Prices in Focus

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We begin a new week of trading by taking something of a breather between big economic reports last week — jobs and PCE inflation reports — and next week’s unofficial start of Q3 earnings season. Pre-market futures are turning lower after closing up last week, spot oil prices are relatively muted at sustained higher levels, and bond yields are flattish but also higher than they’ve been in a long time.

The war in Iran has now worked its way into a proxy fight between the Saudi-backed Yemen government and the Iran-backed Houthis in that country. Barely any oil tankers are moving through the Strait of Hormuz presently, but hostilities overall are relatively cooler, keeping this struggle off the front pages with WTO spot oil prices at $90 per barrel (/bbl) and Brent crude at $102/bbl.

What to Expect from the Stock Market Today

After today’s opening bell, S&P Services PMI and ISM Services — both for September — are due. Last week, the Manufacturing PMI for both indexes were released, moving downward slightly from expectations. For today’s Services numbers, ISM is expected to dip slightly to 55 from 55.4 reported a months ago. Both indexes are expected to remain well above the 50 level, which indicates growth versus loss.

What to Expect from the Stock Market This Week

There are a couple other “twin” economic reports scheduled to come out this week. Wednesday’s August Consumer Credit will pre-date the preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Survey for October, out on Friday. Tuesday’s U.S. Trade Balance releases ahead of Monthly Wholesale Trade numbers for August on Thursday.

Although next week’s Q3 earnings reports from the biggest Wall Street banks will signal earnings season has returned, later this week we’ll see some household names report: PepsiCo (PEP - Free Report) on Thursday morning and Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) Friday. While PepsiCo’s numbers are expected to be subdued — 0.00% earnings growth year over year and +3.94% revenue growth — Delta is projected to have grown +14.65% on earnings and +6.15% on revenues. Both stocks are at sell-levels on the Zacks Rank currently.

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