Lumber futures today see a 3% weekly gain

Lumber futures today see a 3% weekly gain, propelled by higher futures buying from hedge funds anticipating Q3 construction resilience. Market focus this week will be on any new trade or tariff news. Later today, the Aug JOLTS job openings are expected to increase by +19,000 to 7.200 million.  Also, the Conference Board's Sep consumer confidence index is expected to fall -1.4 to 96.0.  On Wednesday, the Sep ADP employment change is expected to increase by +51,000. Also, the Sep ISM manufacturing index is expected to rise by +0.3 to 49.0.  On Thursday, weekly initial unemployment claims are expected to increase by +7,000 to 225,000.  Also, Aug factory orders are expected to increase by +1.4% m/m.  On Friday, Sep nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase by +51,000, and the Sep unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.3%. Also, Sep average hourly earnings are expected to increase by +0.3% m/m and +3.7% y/y.  Finally, the Sep ISM services index is expected to slip -0.2 to 51.8. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals, in a 7-4 decision, ruled that while the law gives the president significant emergency powers, “none of these explicitly include the power to impose tariffs, duties, or the power to tax.” Based on that ruling, Mr. Trump asked the Supreme court to review the court of appeal decision. Recent trading shows lumber futures today up 0.8%, as U.S. mortgage rate declines spark expectations of stronger summer building activity.