What will drive the markets this week?
Friday saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closing lower, mainly due to a drag from Netflix shares, though American Express provided some buoyancy to the Dow following their quarterly earnings reports. Market sentiment was further dampened by increasing doubts about imminent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. For the week, the S&P 500 experienced a 3.05% decline, the Nasdaq dropped by 5.52%, while the Dow managed a slight 0.01% climb.
In European markets, despite initial concerns over escalating tensions in the Middle East, stocks closed lower but recovered from intraday lows, with L’Oreal notably performing well on the back of robust results.
In Asia, Taiwan’s Weighted Index led losses with a 3.81% drop amid broader regional declines sparked by escalating Middle East tensions. Reports of Israel’s limited strike in Iran further exacerbated the sell-off, prompting a flight to safe-haven assets and a decline in risk assets.
This week, several major players in the technology and telecommunications sectors are set to unveil their financial reports for the first quarter of 2024. Among them, Tesla’s (TSLA) report on Tuesday is expected to garner significant attention from investors. Following closely behind are earnings announcements from Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), Intel (INTC), and other industry giants. Additionally, the reports from Boeing (BA), Albertsons (ACI), ExxonMobil (XOM), and Chevron (CVX) may also spark interest.
Market analysts will be particularly attuned to Friday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index. As the final gauge of inflation before the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, it has the potential to influence discussions regarding interest rates.