Investors will be anxious to see whether upcoming quarterly reports and outlooks from US companies validate expectations for a strong 2021 rebound in earnings and the economy, which were ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to have dropped 9.8% in the fourth quarter from a year ago, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. "Managements and analysts are really going to be focused not necessarily on the rear mirror. They're really thinking about 2021," said Kenneth Leon, research director at CFRA Research.
"Stocks already reflect a pretty positive outlook for earnings," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey. A large portion of cyclical names fall under the"value" label, and investors have watched the Russell 1000 value index close the gap on the Russell 1000 growth index following upbeat vaccine news.