The three major U.S. equity indexes closed lower on Friday. The Dow Jones industrials ended the day down 0.9%, while S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed down around 0.7%. Ten of 11 sectors closed lower, with energy (−2.33%) and health care (−1.28%) dropping the most. Only communication services (0.02%) was able to scratch out a tiny gain.
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins its two-day meeting Tuesday, culminating in an announcement of an expected interest rate increase of half a percentage point, down from the three-quarter point raises of the past several months.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the consumer price index (CPI) before markets open on Tuesday. Economists expect the index to rise by 0.3% month over month in November, below the 0.4% increase posted in October. On Thursday, the Census Bureau releases November data on retail sales. The consensus estimate calls for a decline of 0.1% compared to an increase of 1.3% in October.
Weekly reports on U.S. petroleum inventories (Wednesday) and new claims for jobless benefits (Thursday) are also among the major economic announcements for the week ahead.
The three major indexes were trading higher shortly after Monday’s opening bell.
Before markets opened on Monday, Coupa Software announced quarterly results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines. The bigger news was the company’s announcement that it is being acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $8 billion in cash. The $81 per-share price represents a 77% premium to the stock price on November 22, the last day before media reports of the possible acquisition. Shares closed at $62.09 on Friday and traded up about 26.6% in Monday’s premarket at $78.60.
After markets close on Monday, Fluence Energy and Oracle are on deck to report quarterly results.
Here is a preview of three companies set to report results first thing Wednesday morning.
Arqit Quantum
U.K.-based Arqit Quantum Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQQ) has developed a quantum encryption technology that the company says “makes the communications links of any networked device secure against current and future forms of hacking – even an attack from a quantum computer.”
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