Magnificent 7 earnings, Fed and ECB rates: what investors need to know this week

After new records in the U.S. stock market, investors are preparing for the busiest week of the reporting season. Although the situation around Iran is still unpredictable, traders will have many other significant catalysts, Yahoo Finance points out. The main event will be the financial results for the last quarter of five corporations from the so-called "Magnificent Seven". Technology giants Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Apple are expected to present their financial results.

In addition to the technology sector, the market will follow the publication of results of telecom operators Verizon and T-Mobile. The leading payment systems Visa and Mastercard will also disclose their earnings data. Special attention of investors will be drawn to quarterly reports of oil supermajors Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP. Their reports should reflect the real impact of the war in Iran on the global energy market.

This week a series of decisions are expected from the leading Western central banks: the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. No changes in interest rates are predicted this month. However, it is important for investors to understand how regulators assess the impact of the energy price spike due to the Middle East war. The likelihood of rate changes in the coming months depends on this, The Wall Street Journal writes.

Verizon, Advantest and Domino's Pizza will disclose financial statements on Monday, April 27.

On Tuesday, April 28, the Bank of Japan will make a decision on the interest rate. Most likely, it will not change: the Japanese Central Bank is still assessing the inflationary pressure on the country's economy caused by rising energy prices. Market attention will focus on the briefing of the head of the regulator Kazuo Ueda, where he may hint at the pace and timing of rate changes in the future, NHK reports.

The Conference Board will release the April U.S. Consumer Confidence Index, a leading indicator of the "temperature" of Americans' sentiment. The consensus forecast suggests a decline in the index to 89.3 points from 91.8 points in March, according to Yahoo Finance.

Visa, Robinhood, Airbus, Mondelez, T-Mobile, Starbucks, UPS, Spotify, Coca-Cola, BP and General Motors will report earnings.

On Wednesday, April 29, the Fed will hold a meeting on the interest rate and is expected to keep it unchanged. At 14:30 local time (23:30 Astana time) the head of the regulator Jerome Powell will hold a press conference. This briefing may be his last as chairman, if by the next meeting in June in this position will be officially approved Kevin Warsh, notes MarketWatch.

The U.S. Census Bureau will release a report on durable goods orders for March and new home construction data for February and March (the release of February figures was previously postponed). In addition, the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) will release its weekly oil inventory report.

Bill Ackman is to list his Pershing Square USA investment fund and management company Pershing Square on the New York Stock Exchange, the WSJ reports. The billionaire investor plans to offer up to 33.1 million shares at $50 apiece in the IPO. For buying every 100 shares of Pershing Square USA, investors will receive 20 shares of Pershing Square for free.

Four members of the "Magnificent Seven" will publish quarterly results: Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms. Qualcomm, Ford, General Dynamics, Regeneron, Chipotle, Allstate, eBay, Humana and Phillips 66 will also report earnings.

On Thursday, April 30, the ECB and the Bank of England will make decisions on rates. Both regulators are expected to keep them at the same level, reports WSJ.

In the US, the preliminary estimate of GDP for the first quarter is scheduled for publication. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will present the March Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index - the Fed's priority inflation indicator.

Apple, Caterpillar, Mastercard, Eli Lilly, Royal Caribbean, Merck, Valero, ConocoPhillips, L3Harris, Hershey and Tokyo Electron will report earnings.

On Friday, Ma. 1, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will release the U.S. manufacturing sector business activity index (PMI) for April.

Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Estee Lauder, Colgate-Palmolive and Moderna will report quarterly results.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor