(ABM FN) In the coming week, investors will again be preparing for a series of company figures, while purchasing managers indices, the US job market and two European interest rate decisions are planned on a macroeconomic level.
It could well be another volatile week. So far, the start of the year has not been too good for the stock markets. The Bel20 index is currently at an annual loss of 6.6 percent. The Nasdaq stock exchange even records a loss of about 13.0 percent.
Technology stocks in particular are losing ground due to higher interest rates as a result of rising inflation. In America it turned out to have already risen to 7 percent and last week an inflation rate of no less than 7.59 percent was released in our own country.
For that reason, the US central bank is increasingly putting the brakes on the monetary stimulus. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in a press conference following last week’s interest rate decision that he sees some room for rate hikes. The first plans for the reduction of the gigantic balance sheet of the Fed were also revealed. The stock markets did not react positively to these announcements.
ECB and BoE on the move
Next week it will be the turn of the European Central Bank. While the Fed is planning several rate hikes, the ECB has said so far not to raise interest rates this year. Investors are therefore curious about what chairwoman Christine Lagarde has to say on Thursday.
Inflation in the eurozone stood at 5.0 percent in December. Preliminary figures for January will be published on Wednesday.
Barclays economists do not rule out that if those data surprise negatively, and inflation has risen even more, this will force the ECB to take a more hawkish tone.
By the way, we will also see an interest rate decision from the Australian central bank on Tuesday, the Bank of England will meet on Thursday, just like the ECB.
After the British central bank surprised the markets in December with an interest rate hike from 0.10 percentage point to 0.25 percent, the market is counting on a further increase of 25 basis points for the upcoming interest rate decision.
Economists at the Japanese bank Nomura are counting on British interest rates to rise every quarter this year.
The Chinese stock markets are closed for a whole week because of Chinese New Year. This weekend, therefore, Chinese purchasing data already appeared, from both Markit/Caixin and the Chinese government. Markit reported a contraction in China’s industry in January, due to the resurgence of the coronavirus. The Chinese government reported minimal growth for manufacturing in January and a slowdown for the services sector.
The stock market week will start on Monday with an economic growth figure from the eurozone, as well as an inflation figure from its main member state, Germany. France will follow on Tuesday. Inflation for the entire eurozone is therefore scheduled for Wednesday.
Also on Monday we see Japanese industrial production pass, France will follow on Friday.
On Tuesday, a series of purchasing managers’ indices are scheduled for manufacturing in Japan, many European countries, the eurozone in general, the United Kingdom and the United States. The same series of countries is on the agenda for the service sectors on Thursday.
The job market will also be in the spotlight in the coming days. On Tuesday we will receive unemployment figures from Germany and the eurozone. We receive the open vacancies from America, the ADP jobs report will follow on Wednesday and the official January job figure will follow on Friday. As usual, we will also receive weekly aid applications from the country on Thursday.
Oil prices have soared and could move again following Wednesday’s OPEC+ meeting.
Company figures
The earnings season is in full swing, although it will remain a fairly quiet week in Belgium.
In its own country, Melexis will open the books on Wednesday, Thursday there will be results from ING and Euronav.
Ascencio will hold a General Meeting for Shareholders on Monday and will trade ex-dividend on Thursday.
Abroad, we expect figures from Alibaba, Axalta and NXP on Monday. Tuesday there are results from UBS, Ryanair, Exxon Mobil, General Motors, ManpowerGroup, UPS, Alphabet, Gilead, PayPal and Starbucks.
On Wednesday, we’ll shift the focus to Novartis, AbbVie, Meta, or the old Facebook and Qualcomm. Thursday will also be busy with numbers from Shell, Infineon, Roche, Siemens Healthineers, Eli Lilly, Honeywell, Merck, Amazon, Ford, GoPro and Snap.
Friday we close with Sanofi.
Bron: ABM Financial News
From Beursplein 5, the editors of ABM Financial News keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam stock exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.
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