Labor data, durable goods on tap
Today has several economic reports before trading winds down for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
MBA's mortgage-purchase applications are the first item at 7 a.m. ET, followed by three bigger reports at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Durable-goods orders for October are expected to contract by 2.2 percent, compared with a 3.8 percent gain in the previous month. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, economists are looking for a 0.2 percent increase.
Initial jobless claims, moved forward by one day because of the holiday tomorrow, are forecast to increase to 330,000 from 323,000 in the previous week. Lower numbers are bullish for the economy because they would mean that fewer Americans had lost their jobs.
The Chicago Federal Reserve's regional economic activity index also comes out at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago purchasing managers index follows at 9:45 a.m. and is expected to drop to 58 from 65.9 in October.
The market re-opens for a half-day of trading on Friday, closing at 1 p.m. ET.
Next week's calendar is packed with macroeconomic events, starting with Chinese and European manufacturing numbers before Monday's opening bell. The Institute for Supply Management's key monthly index of manufacturing activity will be released 30 minutes into the session.
Wednesday brings ADP's private-sector payrolls report, new home sales, and the Fed's beige book survey of economic conditions.
Thursday features the European Central Bank's monetary announcement and initial jobless claims. The schedule climaxes with non-farm payrolls and consumer sentiment Friday morning.
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