Consumer Sentiment: Tomorrow's Headliners
NEW YORK (
) -- The University of Michigan's revised read on consumer sentiment for September will likely be the focus of trading during Friday's session.
Economists polled by
Reuters
expect the final read on consumer sentiment for the current month, due at 9:55 a.m. EDT, will rise to a reading of 70.5 from the preliminary read of 70.2 and August's final read of 65.7.
It has been difficult to draw conclusions about consumer spending habits from the University of Michigan's data, as unemployment remains a concern. For that reason, the outlook component of the survey could be more closely watched. In the preliminary report for September, the expected outlook increased to a reading of 69.2 from 65 in August.
Durable goods orders data for August, as well as last month's read on new-home sales, will also be the focus. Durable goods orders should inch 0.3% higher in August after a 5.1% jump in July, while order excluding transportation should rise 1%. New-home sales should increase to 440,000 in August from 433,000 in July, according to a consensus of economists.
Turning to corporate news, earnings from
KB Home
(KBH) - Get Report
will be the main highlight Friday. Traders will also be monitoring the reaction to earnings from
Research in Motion
(RIMM)
, released after the close of trading Thursday.
RIM said Thursday it had fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.03 a share, coming in slightly higher than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1 a share. Revenue jumped 36.8% from a year ago to $3.53 billion, missing the average analyst estimate of $3.62 million. Looking ahead to the fiscal third quarter, RIM expects earnings in a range of $1 to $1.08 a share, in line with estimates. Revenue in the third quarter should fall between $3.6 billion and $3.85 billion, below the Thomson Reuters consensus of $3.92 billion.
-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York
.
