MARKET SNAPSHOT: December Jobs Data Likely Will Be Week's Biggest Stock Catalyst

By Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch

FOMC minutes, car sales, light earnings activity round out week

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)--December jobs numbers will likely be the key market driver this week, overshadowing the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes and service-sector data.

Stocks finished last week lower with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) off 1.2%, the S&P 500 index (SPX) down by 1.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) shedding 1.7%.

Expect attention this week to be focused on the December jobs numbers scheduled for release on Friday.

"It's always going to be coming down to the payroll numbers," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners.

Friday's numbers will follow a November jobs report that came in much higher than expected for the biggest monthly gain in nearly three years.

Given the strong November report, Pavlik said he'd like to see December numbers also come in above estimates. But even if they hit the consensus, what matters is that job growth is still occurring, he said.

Analysts surveyed by MarketWatch expect, on average, an addition of 215,000 jobs to the economy for December. Unemployment, which held at 5.8% in November, is expected to decline to 5.7%.

The week also will see the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in mid-December. That will likely be secondary to the Friday jobs number, Pavlik said. Any market moves related to the Fed minutes will likely be brief and limited to Wednesday, he said.

Shares of General Motors Co. (GM.XX) and Ford Motor Co. (F) may see activity as December car sales figures are released on Monday. Shares of Ford only rose 0.4% over 2014, while GM shares dropped nearly 15% over the year.

Also, the Institute for Supply Management will release its services-sector index on Tuesday. ISM's manufacturing index, released Friday, showed a slowing in U.S. activity.

Light earnings activity before season ramps up

This week will also be a warm-up before earnings season starts in earnest in mid-January.

 
Report Date    Company/Ticker (Estimated EPS / revenue) 
Tues., Jan 6   Micron Technology Inc.  (92 cents / $4.61 billion) 
Weds., Jan 7   Monsanto Co.  (35 cents / $2.8 billion) 
Thurs., Jan. 8 Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.  ($1.19 / $2.97 billion)Constellation Brands Inc.  ($1.14 / $1.52 billion)Family Dollar Stores Inc.  (62 cents / $2.57 billion) 
 

Non-S&P 500 earnings coming in this week include Sonic Corp. (SONC) on Tuesday, along with WD-40 Co. (WDFC) and Supervalu Inc. (SVU) on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Ruby Tuesday Inc. (RT) reports, along with Apollo Education Group Inc. (APOL), Helen of Troy Ltd. (HELE), Angiodynamics Inc. (ANGO), and Global Payments Inc. (GPN) on Thursday. On Friday, Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI) reports results.

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