The ECB's Key Interest Rate, Tesla and Google Earnings: What Investors Need to Know This Week

Preliminary business activity indices for the U.S., the eurozone, and the U.K. will show how businesses fared in July, when the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East once again pushed oil prices higher. The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision. In the UK, where new Prime Minister Andrew Burnham is taking office, inflation data will be released. Turkey’s central bank will also announce its interest rate decision, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Investors are in for another eventful five-day trading week. The earnings reports from two members of the “Magnificent Seven”— Alphabet and Tesla—are expected to be key for the stock market. The market will also be watching Intel’s financial results, which will help gauge the state of the semiconductor industry. IBM will report earnings following a historic sell-off of its shares, which came after a pessimistic letter from CEO Arvind Krishna, notes Yahoo Finance.

On Monday, July 20, Andy Burnham is set to take office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following Keir Starmer’s resignation. Investors will be watching the formation of the new cabinet: its composition could indicate what policies the government intends to pursue regarding public spending and taxes, according to the WSJ.

Domino’s Pizza will report its quarterly results. In addition, European low-cost carrier Ryanair reported a 34% drop in profits for the previous reporting period.

On Tuesday, July 21, Halliburton, Hasbro, and Northrop Grumman will release their financial results.

On Wednesday, July 22, the U.K. will release its inflation data for June. This data will allow investors to assess whether the Bank of England might raise interest rates in the coming months. The country is a net importer of energy, making it particularly vulnerable to price increases caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Investec expects the Bank of England to keep its benchmark rate at 3.75% through the end of 2026. However, Investec economist Philip Shaw pointed out the risk of a future rate hike, especially given the unstable situation in the Persian Gulf, the WSJ notes.

Alphabet, Tesla, IBM, AT&T, GE Vernova, Philip Morris, Southwest Airlines, ServiceNow, and Texas Instruments will report their quarterly results.

On Thursday, July 23, the European Central Bank will announce its monetary policy decision. The central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged following a 25-basis-point hike in June. However, the ECB may raise rates again in September to prevent a secondary surge in inflation caused by rising energy prices, according to the WSJ.

The Central Bank of Turkey will also announce its decision on the interest rate. At its last three meetings, it kept the rate at 37% following a cut in January. In June, the regulator noted that the core inflation trend had eased somewhat in May, but energy prices remain high and volatile, the financial publication reports.

Intel, SAP, TotalEnergies, Dassault Systèmes, STMicroelectronics, Nestlé, Deckers Outdoor, Honeywell, PG&E, Lockheed Martin, Newmont, T-Mobile US, Union Pacific, and VeriSign will report their earnings.

On Friday, July 24, S&P Global will release preliminary business activity indices for the U.S. manufacturing and services sectors for July. These figures will show how the U.S. economy fared in July, when the resurgence of conflict in the Middle East once again led to rising oil prices. The consensus forecast calls for a manufacturing PMI of 54.1 points and a services PMI of 51.2 points, according to Barron’s.

Preliminary business activity indices for July will also be released in the eurozone—along with the ECB’s decision, this is one of the week’s major economic events in the region, according to the WSJ.

American Express, SLB, Verizon Communications, and Volkswagen will release their financial statements.

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