The movement of major stock exchange traded funds on Thursday will depend largely on the latest GDP revision.
Overall economic activity in the first quarter is anticipated to increase in the U.S. at an annualized rate of 2.2%, compared with the initial forecast of 1.8%. A bullish reaction from the U.S. dollar and U.S. equities could resume on growth prospects, says Forex Factory.
Contributing factors to the upward numbers are increased March retail sales and an uptick in construction spending reported the same month.
“It’s a series of small increases in each of the net contributions,” said Brian Jones, an economist with Societe Generale. “It’s essentially across the board.” [Stock ETF Investors Look for Improvement in Jobless Claims.]
The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY) is up about 23% over the past year. This ETF represents the broad market and corresponds with the price and yield performance of the S&P 500 Index. Top holdings include Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL), Exxon Mobile (NYSE: XOM) and General Electric (NYSE: GE). [Stock ETFs Lower as Traders Eye Intel, LinkedIn.]
Last week’s jobs report helped to temper losses within the broad market, and surprised investors with stronger numbers. The numbers for the GDP report will have to exceed analysts expectations to see another jump in U.S equities such as last Friday, in order to lessen investor fears about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.