Index futures sink 0.4% on China worries – Crypto News

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• S&P 500 lost 2.93% last week, its worse performance since the second week in March.
• US PCE data for Q2 will give investors better view on outlook for inflation.
• August Durable Goods Orders will be released on Wednesday.
• US Bureau of Economic Analysis releases Q2 US GDP print on Thursday.
• Nike, Accenture, Micron Technology release quarterly earnings results.

The S&P 500 index lost 2.93% last week as the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) September 20 policy meeting spooked investors with the central bank’s lack of interest in cutting interest rates anytime soon. The central bank kept rates unchanged as expected, but Fed Chair Powell’s presser coincided with a “higher for longer” dot plot for interest rates remaining high well into 2025. 

This week things are already looking a bit sinister for the index. China Oceanwide, a mainland property developer, was ordered to liquidate by a court in Bermuda. On Sunday, embattled Chinese real estate powerhouse Evergrande said it was unable to raise more debt due to an ongoing investigation into one of its subsidiaries. Both pieces of news follow last week’s bankruptcy filing by a separate Chinese real estate developer called Sunac last Tuesday. The real estate sector in China comprises 25% of the economy, and a continued slowdown in this sector will likely spillover into the global economy, affecting GDP growth for quite a while.

Significant economic indicators this last week of September are rather lacking, but US Personal Consumption Expenditures for Q2, a final Q2 GDP reading, and Durable Goods Orders for August will still turn heads. More important for the S&P 500 will be earnings results from Costco Wholesale (COST), Nike (NKE), Micron Technology (MU) and Accenture (ACN).

S&P 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Industrial futures are all down close to 0.4% in Monday’s premarket at the time of writing.

S&P 500 News: Earnings are sparse, but NKE, ACN, MU, COST will receive focus

Costco will be first out of the gate on Tuesday. Wall Street is expecting their beloved compounder to turn in its fiscal fourth-quarter results (quarter ending in August) much improved from the previous quarter ending in May. That quarter saw adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.93, and analyst consensus now reads $4.82 in adjusted EPS in the tea leaves for Q4, which will be released after the close. 

Nike is facing headwinds going into earnings, which will be released on Thursday after the close. Jeffries presented a downgrade on the sportswear stock early Monday, giving the legendary brand a Hold rating and a $100 price target. 

“Our consumer survey results indicate that US consumers are likely to reduce spending ahead, with apparel and footwear being the most likely areas of pullback,” warned Jeffries analyst Randal Konik.

NKE stock is trading down 1.6% in the Monday premarket. One reason is that with all the negativity out of China, Nike’s quarterly results might look less probable. Analysts have been expecting a 1.6% drop in North America sales, while Greater China is expected to deliver 16% YoY growth. Analysts are expecting the reporting quarter to see sales of $13 billion, an easy achievement,Nike’s outlook for the following quarter will be much more important for price action.

Micron Technology releases results on Wednesday. The stock price will turn on whether Micron’s management team can pull off a small loss than expected. The heavily negative sentiment heading into the earnings call has consensus at $-1.18 per share in adjusted EPS on $3.93 billion in sales. MU stock may take off if management sees an end to the poor business cycle for memory chips coming to an end. 

Leading consulting firm Accenture will release results on Thursday. Wall Street expects adjusted EPS of $2.63 on $16.06 billion in sales as corporations tighten their belts and reduce spending on outside consultants. 

Economic indicators should confirm market stance

Although the S&P 500 index normally rotates based on economic indicators dedicated to the US economy, a lot of investors will keep one eye on China this week due to the raft of worrisome headlines in the real estate industry. HSBC cut its GDP forecast already this morning. The bank cuts 2023 GDP by 40 basis points to 4.9% and 2024 GDP by 30 basis points to 4.6%.

It is a bit sleepy this week on the US data front. Still there are a few readings to keep in the back of mind. First and foremost, Friday’s August PCE index is forecast to show MoM inflation of 0.2% and annual inflation of 3.9%. The indicator had the same monthly result in July but 4.2% YoY inflation.

Wednesday’s August Durable Goods Orders are expected to decline 0.4%. That is still better than July’s -5.2% contraction.

Thursday’s US GDP results for Q2 are forecast to show annualized growth of 2.3%. This is up from Q1’s 2.1% annualized reading. 

Thursday’s PCE data for Q2 is expected to show 2.5% annualized economic growth for the US economy.