Salesforce and discounters report: what investors need to know this week
Wall Street begins the last month of the year with a busy schedule of macroeconomic data releases and corporate reporting. Since any signs of weakness in the labor market or economic activity will increase the likelihood of a Fed interest rate cut, the market may react to the results of the November surveys on industrial and service sector sentiment, as well as employment data to be released in the U.S. this week, The Wall Street Journal writes. Traders now estimate the probability of a rate cut at the December meeting of the central bank at about 80% - indicating that the market does not yet consider the issue fully resolved, WSJ notes. The Fed itself late last week entered a period of silence before the December meeting.
Among this week's significant corporate reports, Yahoo Finance highlighted Salesforce and CrowdStrike in the technology sector, as well as discount retailers Dollar Tree, Dollar General and Five Below.
On Monday, December 1, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will report its manufacturing sector business activity index (PMI) for November. According to Barron's, the consensus forecast is 49.3 points, up 0.6 points from October's reading. Values below 50 indicate a contraction in business activity, while values above 50 indicate growth. The results of purchasing managers' surveys in the eurozone manufacturing sector will also be released.
Credo Technology and MongoDB will publish quarterly reports.
On Tuesday, December 2, the preliminary eurozone inflation estimate will be released. "Will price pressures ease, giving the European Central Bank room to cut interest rates further in December?" - DZ Bank analysts wondered. However, financial markets almost completely rule out the scenario of a December ECB rate cut, WSJ writes, citing LSEG data.
CrowdStrike, Marvell Technology and Okta will present financials.
On Wednesday, December 3, ADP will release the U.S. employment report for November. The number of jobs in the private sector is forecast to rise by 42.5 thousand - after an increase of 42 thousand in October. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release data on export and import prices of the largest economy for September. The publication was originally scheduled for October 17. The ISM will release its index of business activity in the services sector for November. The consensus is 52.8 points versus 52.4 in October. The eurozone will also release November service sector data.
Quarterly earnings will be reported by C3.ai, Dollar Tree, Five Below, Macy's, Salesforce and Snowflake.
Dollar General, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Kroger, Ulta Beauty, SentinelOne and Rubrik are expected to release their quarterly results on Thursday, December 4.
On Friday, December 5, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release the September Consumer Price Index (PCE), which was not released on time due to the shutdown. According to the midpoint estimate, the Fed's preferred inflation indicator rose at a 2.8% annualized rate in September after rising 2.7% in August, Barron's reports. The eurozone will release its final estimate of third-quarter GDP growth and employment data for the same period.
Victoria's Secret will report quarterly results.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
