Four Mag7 Reports, the Fed's Decision, and Oil Prices: What Investors Can Expect This Week
The new head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, does not like hints about possible future interest rate changes / Photo: X/Federal Reserve
This week will be the busiest of the second-quarter earnings season for Wall Street: nearly one-third of the companies in the S&P 500 will report results, including four members of the “Magnificent Seven,” according to Barron’s.
Microsoft and Meta Platforms will be the first to report their earnings, followed by Apple and Amazon. As was the case with Alphabet and Tesla a week earlier, investors are focused on one key question: how much are Big Tech companies spending on artificial intelligence and what are they getting in return, according to Yahoo Finance.
The week won’t be limited to the “Magnificent Seven.” AstraZeneca will kick off the week. Next up are SK Hynix —reporting for the first time since its U.S. listing—as well as Visa, Coca-Cola, and Boeing. They will be followed by Qualcomm and Starbucks, then Mastercard, Shell, and Anheuser-Busch. The week will wrap up with reports from U.S. oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold a two-day meeting. Uncertainty ahead of the meeting is higher than usual—mainly because the new Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, is reluctant to give Wall Street any advance guidance on interest rates, notes Barron's.
The central banks of the United Kingdom and Japan will also announce their interest rate decisions. In the eurozone, preliminary estimates of second-quarter GDP and July inflation will be released, while in China, business activity indices will be published.
Another key topic of the week is the situation in the Middle East. Houthi attacks in the Red Sea last week pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel. With no diplomatic solution in sight, inflation risks may once again come to the forefront, according to Yahoo Finance.
On Monday, July 27, the U.S. Census Bureau will release data on durable goods orders for June. Analysts expect, on average, that new orders rose by 1.8% from the previous month.
AstraZeneca will report its quarterly results.
On Tuesday, July 28, S&P will release its housing price index for the 20 largest U.S. cities for May. In April, prices rose 0.8% year-over-year. Housing prices rose the most in Chicago—by 6.5%. In Seattle, by contrast, prices fell 2.3%—the worst performance.
Boeing, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor, GSK, Mondelez International, PayPal, Royal Caribbean, and Visa will release their financial reports.
On Wednesday, July 29, the Fed will announce its monetary policy decision. Investors will be looking for hints in the regulator’s statement regarding a possible 25-basis-point rate hike in September. According to LSEG data, the money market is already fully pricing in this scenario.
However, the market may not receive clear signals. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh typically avoids providing advance guidance on interest rates and prefers brief statements, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing ING analysts James Knightley and Chris Turner.
Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Arm, Carvana, Chipotle Mexican Grill, GE HealthCare Technologies, General Dynamics, L3Harris Technologies, Lam Research, Procter & Gamble, Robinhood Markets, Qualcomm, SK Hynix, and Starbucks will report their quarterly results.
On Thursday, July 30, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index for June—the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. Consensus: a decline of 0.4 percentage points to 3.7% on an annualized basis.
The agency will also release a preliminary estimate of U.S. GDP for the second quarter. The consensus forecast suggests that the world’s largest economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis—the same as in the first quarter.
Preliminary GDP estimates for the second quarter will be released by the four largest economies in the eurozone—Germany, France, Italy, and Spain—as well as for the eurozone as a whole.
The European Commission will present the results of its business and consumer sentiment surveys. In addition, data on eurozone unemployment for June will be released.
The Bank of England will announce its monetary policy decision. The central bank is expected to keep the interest rate at 3.75%. According to the WSJ, seven committee members may vote in favor of this decision, while two may support a rate hike.
Amazon, Shell, Coinbase Global, Mastercard, Norwegian Cruise Line, Sanofi, and Yum! Brands will release their financial reports.
On Friday, July 31, the eurozone will release its preliminary estimate of inflation for July.
The Bank of Japan is set to conclude its two-day meeting. In June, the central bank raised its policy rate to 1%, and it is now unlikely to change it, according to the WSJ.
China will release its July business activity indices. They will show how business sentiment has changed in the world's second-largest economy amid trade tensions and the AI boom.
Chevron, ExxonMobil, AbbVie, and Moderna will report their quarterly results.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
