The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1% last week as gains led by health care and energy stocks slightly outweighed declines in sectors including consumer discretionary and utilities.
The market benchmark is still in the red for November with a month-to-date drop of 1.6%. The index is up 14% for the year.
Last week featured the end of a 43-day government shutdown, the longest federal closure in U.S. history. While the government has reopened, investors are still awaiting the resumption of a number of key economic reports including employment data for September, which is scheduled to be released on Nov. 20.
As earnings season winds down, questions loom over what the delayed economic reports may show and how they may impact the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting in December.
The health care sector had the largest percentage increase of the week, climbing 3.9%, followed by a 2.5% rise in energy and a 0.9% increase in materials. The consumer staples and technology sectors also eked out weekly gains.
On the downside, consumer discretionary fell 2.7%, followed by a 1.2% drop in utilities and declines of 0.9% each in real estate and industrials. Communication services and financials also edged lower.
Other companies set to release quarterly results this week include Home Depot (HD), NVIDIA (NVDA), TJX (TJX), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Lowe’s (LOW), Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT), Intuit (INTU) and BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ).
Beyond the Nov. 20 release of September employment data, the schedule of economic reports remains unclear as the government works to resume releasing data following its 43-day shutdown.
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