LOOK AHEAD: Monday Data Calendar

A new survey from the Monmouth University Polling Institute has shown that enthusiasm for the Democrat candidate has surged under Vice President Kamala Harris, outstripping Republican enthusiasm for former President Donald Trump, who had a consistent enthusiasm edge over President Biden.

• Monmouth reports, noting that the majority of enthusiasm is derived from an uptick of support for Harris amongst Democrats: "While the number of voters who were at least somewhat enthusiastic about the Trump versus Biden rematch had been increasing throughout the year, it never topped 50%. Now that the contest is Trump versus Harris, voter enthusiasm has risen to 68%."
• Patrick Murray, director of Monmouth, notes: “This is clearly a different ballgame. The nominee change has raised the ceiling for potential Democratic support in the presidential contest by a small but crucial amount, at least for now.”
• The survey also found: "Just under half of registered voters say they will either definitely (38%) or probably (10%) vote for Harris," with, "just over 4 in 10 will definitely (33%) or probably (10%) support Trump," numbers that appear to track closely with the vote share won by President Biden in 2020.

Figure 1: Enthusiasm About Presidential Race

Source: Monmouth University Polling

• Stocks are gaining traction following early post-CPI related volatility this morning, climbing to the highest levels since the beginning of the month with Financials and Information Technology sectors outperforming.
• Currently, the DJIA trades up 193.81 points (0.49%) at 39956.56, S&P E-Minis up 19 points (0.35%) at 5477.75, Nasdaq up 29.6 points (0.2%) at 17216.79.
• Information Technology and Financials sectors lead gainers in late morning trade, semiconductor and software makers and up for the third consecutive session: Micron +3.13%, Crowdstrike Holdings +2.97%, Fortinet +2.74%. Insurance names outpaced banks: Allstate +5.12%, Progressive +4.65%, and Charles Schwab +3.06%.
• Conversely, Communication Services and Consumer Discretionary sectors lagged in the first half, interactive media & entertainment weighed on the former: Google -3.41%, Warner Bro's -2.27%, Match Group -2.27%. Autos and Broadline retailers weighed on the Consumer Discretionary sector: Starbucks -4.04% after surging more than 20% yesterday after acquiring Chipotle's CEO, Tesla -2.63%, Etsy -2.25%.
• Note, late earnings announcements expected this week: Brinker Int, Samsonite and Cisco late Wednesday; Walmart, Applied Materials and Deere & Co on Thursday.