Economy and Markets: Coming Week
Stocks closed in the red in another volatile week as mixed economic reports added to market jitters ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy rate meeting next week. While retail sales exceeded expectations, the decline in consumer sentiment indicated potential weakness in consumer spending in the future. Additionally, rising fuel prices led to an increase in headline inflation.
Last week’s highlight was the Wall Street IPO of chip designer Arm Holdings (Hand), owned by Japanese SoftBank (SFTBY, This successful debut boosted investor sentiment and raised hopes that it could rejuvenate this year’s stagnant IPO activity, setting a positive precedent for other planned IPOs this year. On the downside, markets reacted adversely when the autoworkers’ strike began after contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the three largest US automakers failed.
This week all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday. It is widely expected that the central bank’s Board of Governors will keep its key policy rates on hold and implement another “hard pause.” However, if data released before the next meeting on October 31 indicate persistent inflation pressures, the Fed could resume its monetary tightening. Therefore, investors are encouraged to keep a close eye on the upcoming data as it may provide insight into future decisions of the central bank.
In this uncertain environment, investors are advised to base their decisions on reliable data and analysis.
Upcoming Earnings and Dividend Announcements
The reporting season for Q2 2023 is almost over, but companies are still reporting this week.
The most notable earnings events this coming week are FedEx reports (FDX), Darden Restaurant (dri), AutoZone (azo), General Mills (gis), and factset (FD,
Companies’ reporting dates, consensus EPS forecasts, past data, analyst ratings and price targets can be found on the TipRanks Earnings Calendar.
This week, ex-dividend dates are coming up for Amphenol to pay (aph), STMicroelectronics (stm), Best Buy Company (BBY), Broadcom (AVGO), Omnicom Group (OMC), Medtronic (mdt), flowserv (FLS), and other dividend paying firms.
Companies’ ex-dividend and dividend payment dates, analyst ratings and price targets can be found on the TipRanks Dividend Calendar.
Upcoming Economic Calendar Events
Several important reports are scheduled to be published in the next few days:
» August building permits And housing starts – Tuesday, 9/19 – These reports provide valuable insights about the health of the housing market as well as the overall economy, as housing demand is related to economic growth and consumer sentiment. Both reports are leading indicators that are used by economists and analysts along with other data to measure current demand and forecast near-term trends in real estate as well as associated industries.
» September’s Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey – Thursday, 9/21 – This report, based on a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, measures manufacturing conditions in the survey area (Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware); It is considered an accurate leading indicator of two nationwide reports, the Manufacturing PMI and the ISM Manufacturing Indices.
» S&P Global Manufacturing PMI and Services PMI for September (Preliminary) – Friday, 9/22 – These reports measure business conditions in the two main sectors of the U.S. economy, the manufacturing and service sectors, which directly affect economic growth. PMI indices are leading economic indicators used by economists and analysts to gain timely insight into changing economic conditions because the direction and rate of change in the PMI usually precedes changes in the overall economy.
Current and scheduled economic reports, Fed statements and other releases, as well as the level of their impact on stock markets, can be found on the TipRanks Economic Calendar.
Source: www.tipranks.com
