WALL ST WEEK AHEAD
NORMALLY a big decline would set up Wall Street for a technical rebound. But that may not be the case next week, even after the market posted its worst weekly loss for the year and the S&P fell for six straight sessions.
With the corporate earnings season drawing to an end and recent US economic data raising doubts about the pace of growth, the S&P 500, which is down 7.3 per cent so far in May, could decline further next week as concerns about the financial health of Europe persist. The S&P 500 fell 4.3 per cent for the week, its steepest weekly decline this year, and closed below 1,300 for the first time in four months.
The hotly awaited market debut of Facebook on Friday was marred by technology glitches that rekindled fears about the market’s electronic trading system and caused some investors to stay away from equities.
Solid corporate earnings and upbeat US economic indicators had fueled the rally in US stocks, offsetting jitters over Europe. But with earnings almost out of the way and data starting to disappoint, investors have shifted their focus back to headlines out of Europe.
This week’s economic data includes April’s existing home sales tomorrow. Existing home sales are forecast at a 4.60m-unit annual, up from 4.48m in March. New homes sales figures are due on Wednesday with April’s figures expected to post an increase, gaining about 7,000 units over a 328,000-unit annual rate in March.