"Next week, we'll have a plentiful amount of economic reports, but Europe continues to dominate," according to Michael Gibbs, managing director and director of equity strategy at Morgan Keegan. "The odds favor continued weakness in the near term because of Europe."
On Friday, Wall Street halted a two-week winning streak after starting on a hopeful note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising as much as 99 points after the Italian government won a vote of confidence. But blue-chip gains evaporated after the Fitch ratings agency warned of possible downgrades for half a dozen eurozone nations.
The Dow ended off 2.42 points at 11,866.39, off 2.6 percent. The S&P 500 added 8.89 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,219.65, down 2.8 percent from the week before. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.32 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,555.33, leaving it with a weekly drop of 3.5 percent.
The EU summit that ended with an agreement on some steps toward addressing the regional debt crisis had stocks rallying two Fridays ago but ultimately proved disappointing, once considered.
"They've paved the way for the ECB [European Central Bank] to be the lender of last resort at some point in the future, and for that, they have to come up with a new treaty," Gibbs added.
On Monday, Wall Street will be listening as ECB president Mario Draghi is slated to address the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
Investors also will hear from corporate America, with S&P component and frozen-food supplier ConAgra Foods reporting quarterly results Tuesday, along with food marketer and supplier General Mills.
Wednesday's corporate results will include retailer Bed Bath & Beyond, builder KB Home and drugstore-chain operator Walgreen, while Thursday's earnings are expected to include snack supplier Diamond Foods, shares of which fell 33 percent over the week after the snack supplier said that US regulators were investigating its accounting practices.
US economic reports ahead include a trio related to the struggling housing market. An index gauging home builders' confidence in December is scheduled for release Monday, followed by housing starts in November the next day and existing-home sales in November on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the government's weekly count of Americans filing for jobless claims should garner attention, particularly as the most recent weekly data showed a sharp drop -- giving stocks their sole strong session in the last five.
An initial index of consumer sentiment in December also will be released Thursday, along with leading economic indicators for November.
The last day of the trading week includes data on personal income and spending in November, price inflation, orders for durable goods and November new-home sales.
But how much the domestic reports prove a factor in the market's moves remains to be seen. If Wall Street was moving on the performance of the US economy, market valuation would be quite a bit higher, according to Gibbs.For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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