What will drive the markets this week?
On Friday, trading in U.S. stocks showed minimal movement during the shortened holiday session, characterized by low trading volume and limited investor confidence. Investors closely watched the kickoff of the seasonal shopping spree to assess consumer resilience. Globally, retailers aimed to attract millions of shoppers by offering significant “Black Friday” discounts following the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
In Europe, the benchmark STOXX 600 index experienced a slight uptick on Friday, concluding the week with a 0.9% gain. Investors in the region focused on corporate earnings and the potential for rate cuts. Meanwhile, in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei share index rose, nearing a 33-year high achieved on Monday.
As U.S. markets return to their regular schedule after the Thanksgiving holiday and the fervor of Black Friday sales, attention will be directed towards the latest inflation figures. The release of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, in particular, will provide insights into the effectiveness of the Federal Reserve’s strategy to address inflation through interest rate hikes. These findings are expected to be crucial for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) as it approaches its upcoming meeting on Dec. 12-13, where a review of interest rate levels is on the agenda.
Alongside inflation data, investors can expect reports on various economic indicators, including new home sales, September’s home-price index, October’s new home and pending home sales, and consumer confidence figures for November. Additionally, on Wednesday, the initial revisions to the third-quarter U.S. Gross Domestic Product will be disclosed.
This week will also witness a series of earnings releases from key players in the technology, finance, and retail sectors. Notable among them is Salesforce, a customer relations management firm scheduled to report on Wednesday. Other companies, including Intuit (a tax services provider), Workday (a cloud enterprise management firm), Crowdstrike (a cybersecurity provider), and retailers Dollar Tree and Five Below, are also slated to announce their earnings results.
Events expected to move the markets this week
Monday, Nov. 27
- Zscaler (ZS) earnings.
- New home sales (October)
Tuesday, Nov. 28
- Intuit (INTU), Workday (WDAY), CrowdStrike (CRWD), and Splunk (SPLK) report earnings.
- S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index (September)
- Consumer confidence (November)
Wednesday, Nov. 29
- Salesforce (CRM), Synopsys (SNPS), Snowflake (SNOW), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL), Okta (OKTA), Pure Storage (PSTG) and Five Below (FIVE) release earnings.
- Q3 U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (first revision)
- Advanced U.S. trade balance in goods (October)
- Advanced wholesale inventories (October)
- Advance retail inventories (October)
- Federal Reserve Beige Book
Thursday, Nov. 30
- Dell Technologies (DELL), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Kroger Company (KR), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Royal Bank Of Canada (RY), TD Bank (TD), and CIBC (CM) release earnings.
- Initial jobless claims (week ending Nov. 25)
- Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index (October)
- Pending home sales (October)
Friday, Dec. 1
- Genesco (GCO) releases earnings.
- ISM manufacturing (November)
- Construction spending (October)
- Auto sales (November)