What will drive the markets this week?
Wall Street stock indexes closed higher on Friday, with the tech-focused Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 reaching record highs. This rise was driven by new data showing weakness in the U.S. labor market, which increased expectations for interest rate cuts as early as September. The rally was powered by megacap stocks like Microsoft, which climbed nearly 1.5% to a record high. Meta Platforms also achieved an all-time closing high, surging around 5.9%, boosting the information technology sector to a new high.
European shares declined on Friday, pressured by losses in banks and energy stocks as investors grew cautious ahead of the second round of voting in the French parliamentary elections. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.2% lower after hitting a more than one-week high earlier in the day but still recorded a 1% gain for the week.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 paring gains after crossing the 41,000 mark and hitting fresh record highs. The Nikkei experienced a volatile session, ending flat at 40,912.37. The broad-based Topix also retreated from record highs, dropping 0.49% and breaking a five-day winning streak, closing at 2,884.18.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will update Congress on economic conditions and interest rates this week. Later in the week, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and wholesale inflation data will be released. Additionally, market analysts will receive consumer sentiment data for July.
Second-quarter earnings reports are scheduled to start arriving, with JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) leading the Big Bank reports. PepsiCo (PEP) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) are among the other corporations set to release their latest updates.
Events expected to move the markets this week
Monday, July 8
- Consumer credit (May)
Tuesday, July 9
- NFIB small business optimism (June)
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies to the Senate
- Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michael S. Barr and Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman deliver remarks
- Helen of Troy (HELE) reports earnings
Wednesday, July 10
- Wholesale inventories (May)
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies to the House of Representatives
- WD-40 (WDFC) reports earnings
Thursday, July 11
- Initial jobless claims (Week ending June 29)
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) (June)
- U.S. Treasury statement (June)
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic delivers remarks
- PepsiCo (PEP), Conagra (CAG) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) report earnings
Friday, July 12
- Producer Price Index (June)
- Consumer sentiment - preliminary (July)
- JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Fastenal Co. (FAST) and Ericsson (ERIC) report earnings