Fed rate and Oracle and Adobe reports: what investors need to know this week
Wall Street is expecting a quarter percentage point cut in the US interest rate during this week's main event - the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which will end with a press conference by Fed chief Jerome Powell. Powell is expected to undertake a so-called hawkish rate cut: with no hint of further monetary policy easing in early 2026, Barron's writes.
The eurozone's largest economies - Germany, France and Spain - will release inflation statistics. The UK will publish data on GDP. The central banks of Turkey and Switzerland will make decisions on the interest rate.
In the corporate sector, the week promises to be quite calm, notes Barron's. In the US, quarterly reports will be published by technology giants Adobe, Oracle, Broadcom. Financial results will also be disclosed by Costco, the world's largest chain of self-service club warehouse stores. In Europe, one of the world's leading steel producers, Thyssenkrupp, will report its earnings.
On Monday, December 8, China's General Administration of Customs reported a 5.9% year-on-year increase in exports from the country in November. The figure beat the consensus forecast of 3.8% growth, according to Trading Economics. The main driver of the export revitalization was the desire of Chinese companies to accelerate the shipment of goods in order to take advantage of the tariff truce with the United States. Thanks to the outpacing growth of exports over imports, China's trade surplus in November reached a five-month high, also exceeding market expectations.
The quarterly report will be released by Toll Brothers.
On Tuesday, December 9, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release Job Openings and Labor Turnover Surveys (JOLTS) for September and October. For the Fed, JOLTS reports serve as a key indicator of supply and demand in the labor market, allowing it to assess the risk of wage inflation and determine the need to adjust the interest rate.
AutoZone, Campbell's, GameStop and Thyssenkrupp will report earnings for the quarter.
The Fed will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday, December 10. "The momentum now points firmly toward a third easing of 25 basis points this year. While there is some nervousness that inflation may remain elevated due to tariff-induced price increases, news from the labor market is increasingly worrisome," The Wall Street Journal quoted ING economist James Knightley as saying in a note. The market is also currently pricing in two to three interest rate cuts in 2026, the Journal notes.
Financial statements will be disclosed by Adobe, Chewy, Oracle and Synopsys.
On Thursday, December 11, the Swiss National Bank will decide on the interest rate. The team of analysts at Nomura believes that the regulator will keep it at zero and a move into the negative zone will not be necessary.
The Central Bank of Turkey will announce a decision on the rate. ING analyst Muhammet Merkan predicts its "weighted" decrease by 100 basis points from the current 39.5% amid inflation risks.
Broadcom, Costco Wholesale and Lululemon Athletica will report quarterly earnings.
Friday, December 12, will see the release of final consumer price index (CPI) data for November in Germany, France and Spain. "[Economic] resilience has become the key word for European growth in 2025," Citi economists note, expecting it to continue into 2026.
The UK will publish GDP data for October. Now that the country's budget has already been presented to Parliament, investors are increasingly inclined to believe that the Bank of England will cut interest rates at its December 18 meeting, WSJ writes.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
