Powell's Jackson Hole speech, Walmart report: what investors need to know this week
The most expected event for Wall Street this week will be the speech of US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Fed's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Yahoo Finance writes. This symposium is a platform for statements of the head of the U.S. Central Bank on the future policy of the regulator. Ahead of Powell's speech, which may be his last as Fed chief, markets are estimating a 93.5% probability of an interest rate cut in September. Signals from Powell regarding the speed and scale of a new cycle of monetary easing will be decisive for the dynamics of stock markets.
The corporate disclosure calendar is getting less crowded. The retail sector will be in the center of Wall Street's attention. This week American retail giants Walmart, Target and Home Depot will present their financial results for the last quarter. In the technology sector, one of the leaders in cybersecurity, Palo Alto Networks, will report. Interest in its shares is fueled by a recent upgrade by several analysts, Yahoo Finance notes.
On Monday, August 18, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), one of the largest industry associations in the United States, will release its Housing Market Index for August. It reflects the business sentiment of developers in the custom housing market. Values above 50 points indicate optimism, while values below 50 indicate pessimism. The consensus forecast calls for 34 points, one point higher than in July, Barron's writes.
Palo Alto Networks will report financial results for last quarter.
On Tuesday, August 19, the U.S. Census Bureau will release new home construction data for July. Economists on average forecast an annualized pace of 1.3 million private homes to be built. That's down slightly from June.
Amer Sports, BHP, Home Depot, Jack Henry & Associates, Keysight Technologies, Medtronic, Toll Brothers, Viking Holdings and Xiaomi will report quarterly results.
On Wednesday, August 20, the Fed will release the minutes of its monetary policy meeting held in late July. At that meeting, the FOMC kept the interest rate at 4.25-4.5%. However, for the first time in more than 30 years, two members of the Fed's Board of Governors spoke against it.
In the UK, inflation data for July will be released. On the back of stronger-than-expected June inflation, investors have tempered expectations that the Bank of England will lower interest rates in the coming months.
Analog Devices, Baidu, Estee Lauder, Lowe's, Target and TJX will report their earnings.
On Thursday, August 21, S&P Global will publish business activity indices (PMI) in the manufacturing and services sectors for August. The consensus forecast assumes a value of 49.9 for manufacturing PMI and 53.4 for PMI in the services sector (in July - 49.8 and 55.7, respectively).
The eurozone will release preliminary business activity indices (PMIs) for the manufacturing and services sectors for August. These are some of the key early indicators of how US duties on European goods have affected business activity and prices in Europe.
Dollar Tree, Intuit, Ross Stores, Walmart, Workday and Zoom Communications will release quarterly reports.
On Friday, August 22, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver the keynote address at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole. The theme of this year's conference is "Transforming Labor Markets: demographics, productivity, and macroeconomic policy." According to LBBW strategists, Powell's statements "are likely to be decisive on how firmly the monetary authorities aim for a rate cut in September," The Wall Street Journal reported.
Meituan will report earnings for the quarter.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
