U.S. Inflation, SpaceX and Tesla, Micron's Earnings Report: What Investors Can Expect This Week

The main macroeconomic event of the week will be the U.S. labor market report for September: it will provide new clues as to whether the Fed will raise rates in October for the second consecutive meeting. In Europe, eurozone inflation data will be released, and in Asia, China’s business activity indices will be reported. Investors will also continue to monitor the sell-off in the global bond market and fluctuations in energy prices amid the conflict in the Middle East, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Notable corporate events include the release of financial reports by Micron Technology and Nike, the launch of SpaceX’s Starship heavy-lift rocket, and several announcements from Tesla. Micron’s quarterly results and outlook will also be important for the stock prices of other memory chip manufacturers, including SanDisk, SK Hynix, and Seagate Technology, notes Investor’s Business Daily.

On Monday, September 28, Shein’s board of directors will meet to approve the results for the first half of the year—this week, the company may report a profit for the first time as a publicly traded company, according to Bloomberg. Shares of the Asian fast-fashion giant have fallen nearly 28% since its initial public offering amid slowing demand, rising costs, and increased regulatory pressure. Shein made its debut in Hong Kong less than a month ago with a valuation of about $26 billion, down from approximately $100 billion at its peak in 2022.

SpaceX will conduct the first-ever orbital launch of the super-heavy Starship rocket.

On Tuesday, September 29, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor will release data on job openings and labor turnover in the world’s largest economy. The consensus forecast is for 7.2 million job openings as of the end of August, virtually unchanged from July, according to Barron's.

The Conference Board will release the September consumer confidence index for the United States. According to Barron's, analysts expect an average reading of 89.7 points—slightly higher than August's figure, but still close to post-pandemic lows.

The September business and consumer surveys will be released in the eurozone.

CarMax and Carnival will report their quarterly results.

On Wednesday, September 30, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index for August. Economists, on average, forecast annual inflation at 3.7%, unchanged from July. The Core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is also expected to remain unchanged at 3.3%. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh recently reiterated his intention to bring inflation back to 2%. Barron’s notes that the Core PCE last matched this level in February 2021.

The third and final estimate of U.S. GDP for the second quarter will also be released. Growth of 1.5% on an annualized, seasonally adjusted basis is expected—unchanged from the second estimate, which was published in late August.

China will release its official business activity index, which, according to forecasts by ING economists, will show a slight improvement in both the manufacturing and services sectors. On the same day, the private RatingDog index will be released; as The Wall Street Journal notes, this index has recently tended to outperform the official one due to a higher proportion of export-oriented companies in its sample.

Micron Technology and Conagra Brands will report their quarterly results.

On Thursday, October 1, the U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will release the September Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the U.S. manufacturing sector. The consensus forecast is 55 points, 0.5 points higher than August’s reading. This year, the index has remained above 50 points every month, indicating an expansion in manufacturing activity; over the past three years, this has happened only once, according to Barron’s.

The September manufacturing PMI for the eurozone will be released.

Tesla will hold the long-awaited unveiling of the new version of its Roadster sports car. According to available information, the project has evolved over time from a high-performance electric vehicle based on the Model S into a completely new hypercar with a carbon-fiber body. The presentation may also feature a limited-edition version with gas-powered thrusters developed in collaboration with SpaceX, Yahoo Finance reported.

Nike and Accenture will report their quarterly results.

On Friday, October 2, the BLS will release its September U.S. labor market report. Economists, on average, expect nonfarm payrolls to increase by 100,000, following a gain of 162,000 in August. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 4.1%.

“There are two key reports that will largely determine the Fed’s decision, and the first of them—the September labor market report—will be released on Friday,” the WSJ quotes ING economist James Knightley as saying. According to him, the second key indicator will be the September inflation data, which is scheduled for release on October 14.

The eurozone will release its preliminary inflation estimate for September. Investors will be assessing whether high energy prices are beginning to affect core inflation, which has so far shown relatively little reaction to the turmoil in the Middle East. “Once again, everyone will be watching to see if there are any signs of second-round effects,” said ING economist Bert Kolein (as quoted by the WSJ).

Tesla will release its third-quarter delivery figures.

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