Economic Overview - Pre-market futures show slight increases with Dow up +20 points, S&P 500 up +8, and Nasdaq up +50, following positive economic news [1] - Q2 GDP growth outperformed expectations at +3.0%, rebounding from a -0.5% decline in Q1, marking the strongest quarter for jobs growth since Q3 2024 [7][8] - Consumption increased to +1.4% from +0.5% in Q1, while the Core PCE Price Index rose to +2.5%, indicating robust economic growth without runaway inflation [8][10] Employment Data - ADP reported +104K new private-sector jobs in July, a significant recovery from the revised -23K in June and exceeding the consensus estimate of +64K [3][6] - Job growth was led by the Leisure & Hospitality sector with +46K jobs, while Education & Healthcare saw a decline of -38K [4] - Small companies added +12K jobs, while medium and large businesses contributed +46K jobs, indicating a diverse hiring landscape [5] Company Earnings - Kraft Heinz (KHC) exceeded earnings expectations by +7.8%, reporting 69 cents per share [2] - V.F. Corp. (VFC) reported a smaller-than-expected loss, improving by +31.5% [2] - Etsy (ETSY) missed earnings estimates by -53.7%, indicating potential challenges in its business model [2] Market Expectations - The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to maintain interest rates at +4.25-4.50% during its meeting, reflecting a stable economic environment [10] - The upcoming earnings reports from major companies like Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Qualcomm, and Ford are anticipated to impact market sentiment [12]
ADP, GDP & FOMC: Alphabet Soup of Market Data