Stocks Decline At The End Of The Month

Stocks Set To Open Lower

S&P 500 futures are losing some ground in premarket trading as traders take profits near all-time high levels.

In the last thirty years, September has been the worst month for S&P 500, so traders may be cautious after a solid rally in August.

Today, traders will have a chance to take a look at Case-Shiller Home Price report for June which is expected to show that home prices increased by 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. It remains to be seen whether this report will have an impact on market dynamics as rising home prices are not news to anyone.

Traders will also focus on CB Consumer Confidence report which is projected to show that Consumer Confidence declined from 129.1 in July to 124 in August. this report may have a bigger impact as the market will have a chance to see whether the recent surge in the number of new coronavirus cases put pressure on consumers’ mood.

WTI Oil Pulls Back As Resistance Near $70 Stays Strong

WTI oil did not manage to get to the test of the psychologically important resistance level at $70 and pulled back towards $68.50. The resistance near the $70 level stays strong, and even recent production outages due to the hurricane failed to serve as sufficient bullish catalysts to push WTI oil above this level.

Today, oil traders will focus on API Crude Oil Stock Change report which is projected to show that crude inventories declined by 2.83 million barrels. In case the report meets analyst expectations, oil prices may get additional support which will be bullish for oil-related stocks.

U.S. Dollar Remains Under Pressure

U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the U.S. dollar against a broad basket of currencies, has recently managed to gain additional downside momentum and is trying to settle below the 50 EMA at 92.45.

Weaker dollar provided some support to precious metals, but gold remained stuck in the range between the support at $1800 and the resistance at $1830. In case gold gets to the test of the $1830 level, gold mining stocks will get more support.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.