Stocks closed another week at record highs as investors began to digest quarterly earnings releases and debate intensified over what the Federal Reserve will do at its November meeting.
For the week, the Nasdaq (^IXIC), the S&P 500 (^GSPC), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) all rose more than 1%, with both the Dow and S&P 500 closing at all-time highs Friday.
In the week ahead, a monthly report on retail sales will lead the economic calendar as investors assess whether or not the economy is reaccelerating following a surprisingly strong September jobs report.
In corporate news, the results from Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS) will round out earnings from big banks, while reports from United Airlines (UAL) and Netflix (NFLX) will also highlight the week.
A building case for no-cut November
In the past week, speculation that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates further at its November meeting has been growing. The September jobs report, which included another decline in the unemployment rate and one of the highest monthly payroll addition numbers of the year, helped ease fears that the labor market was rapidly deteriorating.
On Thursday, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed core prices increased more than expected. On Friday, the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) told a similar story, with core prices increasing 2.8%, compared to Wall Street's expectations for a 2.6% increase.
Some have argued that given this data — as well as recent minutes from the Fed's September meeting revealing "some" officials would've supported a smaller interest rate cut — the central bank is likely to hold rates steady in November.
"As long as inflation isn't getting towards 2% so dramatically and there's no crisis that unfolds in the labor market, which I don't foresee, I don't think there's anything that gives the Fed reason to cut further this year," Yardeni Research chief markets strategist Eric Wallerstein told Yahoo Finance.