Wall Street is gearing up for an eventful week ahead, with key economic events and earnings reports set to take center stage. Investors will be closely watching for the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last monetary policy meeting, as well as the first quarter earnings from chip giant Nvidia, both scheduled for Wednesday.
In addition to these events, Fed chair Jerome Powell’s commencement remarks and home sales data for April will also be closely monitored by investors.
The week will kick off with Powell’s pre-recorded commencement remarks to Georgetown University Law Center on Sunday, followed by the release of the Fed’s May FOMC meeting minutes and existing home sales data for April on Wednesday. Thursday will see the release of the S&P flash US services PMI and manufacturing PMI data for May, while Friday will bring a report on final consumer sentiment for May.
A number of companies are also set to report quarterly earnings in the week ahead, including Palo Alto Networks, Zoom Video, Lowe’s Companies, Target, and many more.
Tech enthusiasts can look forward to Microsoft’s annual Microsoft Build event for developers in Seattle, where the tech giant is expected to showcase its Windows 11 update and focus on Generative AI.
Last week, the Dow Jones closed above the 40,000 mark for the first time, supported by consumer prices data that reinforced expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34% to 40,003.59, the S&P 500 gained 0.12% to 5,303.27, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.07% to 16,685.97.
In the commodities market, benchmark US crude oil and gold prices rose, while the US dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen and the euro.
Overall, the week ahead promises to be an exciting one for investors and market watchers, with a mix of economic events, earnings reports, and tech developments to keep an eye on.
