What will drive the markets this week?
On Friday, U.S. stocks faced a decline, primarily driven by drops in technology-related megacap companies that have been driving this year’s market rally. Investors also deliberated over the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting and its potential impact on interest rates. For the week, major indexes saw modest decreases, with the Dow slipping by 0.02%, the S&P 500 down by 0.1%, and the Nasdaq down by 0.7%.
In Europe, shares dipped as concerns mounted over a potential delay in interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. However, gains in telecommunications stocks helped mitigate losses, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index closing 0.2% lower after recently hitting record highs.
In the Asia-Pacific region, markets mostly declined on Friday after higher-than-expected producer prices in the U.S. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.26% lower, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped by 1.91%. However, the Topix index in Japan managed to edge 0.3% higher, bucking the trend.
Investors will closely monitor remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday following this week’s anticipated decision to maintain unchanged interest rates.
Friday marks the deadline for the passage of several government spending bills, raising concerns about a potential shutdown if a legislative package or extension isn’t approved by then.
Upcoming corporate earnings reports include those from Micron Technology Inc. (MU), General Mills Inc. (GIS), Nike Inc. (NKE), FedEx Corp. (FDX), and Chinese EV manufacturer Xpeng Inc. (XPEV). Additionally, Nvidia Corp.’s (NVDA) annual “GTC,” or Global Processing Unit Technology Conference for Artificial Intelligence (AI) developers, begins on Monday, featuring a keynote address by founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
Events expected to move the markets this week
Monday, March 18
- Homebuilder confidence (February)
- Nvidia GTC (Global Processing Unit Technology Conference) keynote address by founder and CEO Jensen Huang
- Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) reports earnings
Tuesday, March 19
- Housing starts (February)
- Building permits (February)
- HealthEquity Inc. (HQY) and Xpeng report earnings
Wednesday, March 20
- Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) interest rate decision
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference
- Micron Technology, General Mills, Five Below Inc. (FIVE), Chewy Inc. (CHWY), KB Home (KBH), and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc. (OLLI) report earnings
Thursday, March 21
- Initial jobless claims (Week ending March 15)
- Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey (March)
- S&P flash U.S. Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) (March)
- S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI (March)
- U.S. leading economic indicators (February)
- Existing home sales (February)
- Accenture PLC (ACN), Nike (NKE), FedEx (FDX), and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU) report earnings
Friday, March 22
- Spending bill deadline to avoid partial federal government shutdown