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Markets finished mostly in the red today, but off session lows and definitely higher than the downward trajectory looked as of the opening bell today. The Dow closed -157 points while the S&P 500 was -24. The Nasdaq shed another -90 points and is the underperformer among major indexes for the past week of trading. The small-cap Russell 2000 was the only major index to finish in the green today: +4 points.

Earlier today, after the market opened, S&P flash Manufacturing and Services PMI for August came out. Results were better-than-expected on both ends, including a more than 3-year high on Manufacturing at 53.3. This is far better than the 49.5 anticipated and the 49.8 reported for July — which were both beneath the 50-threshold between growth and loss. August Services PMI reached 55.4, the second straight month above 55 so far this year.

Earnings After the Close Today: ZM, INTU & ROST
 

Zoom Communications (ZM - Free Report) shares are up +6% in late trading following the company’s Q2 report after the close today, where it beat earnings by +10% to $1.53 per share on better-than-expected revenues of $1.217 billion, representing +4.7% growth year over year. Non-GAAP Operating Margins came in +41.3% in the quarter. The company increased earnings guidance for both the current quarter and full fiscal year.

Intuit (INTU - Free Report) shares, however, outperformed earnings in its fiscal 4th quarter by a solid dime to $2.75 per share, +38% year over year. Revenues also surpassed expectations to $3.8 billion in the quarter, +20% year over year. Yet shares are down -5% in the after-market, largely on lackluster guidance for the current quarter.

Ross Stores (ROST - Free Report) is up +2.3% in late trading following its earnings beat for Q2 this afternoon: earnings of $1.56 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 4 cents. Revenues were in-line at $5.5 billion, +5% year over year, while comps going forward are expected +2-3%. Shares for the specialty retailer had been down -3.74% year to date.

What to Expect from the Market Tomorrow
 

We’ll take a break from major economic reports on Friday, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s address at the Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, WY, taking center stage. We should get his first comments regarding his view on lowering interest rates at the Fed’s September meeting, although it’s very likely he’ll wind up suggesting the Fed will wait for further data before making a firm decision.

Among the data cited will be the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE), due out a week from Friday. Last time around, we saw PCE year over year at +2.6%, +2.8% on core. These are not extravagantly terrible numbers, but they’ve been moving in the wrong direction in recent months. We were at +2.2% back in April.

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