The week ahead | Calamatta Cuschieri

Earnings!

This week features one of the market's biggest names as the flood of earnings continues in a report that investors should be watching closely. Apple on Tuesday will disclose its results, with analysts expecting big things. The iPhone giant is forecasted to show profit of $1.57 a share, a 10.7 percent gain from the same period a year ago, on revenue of $44.89 billion, or 6 percent higher. Tech stocks have been the market leaders for most of the year, but the trade seemed to hit at least a bit of a wall last week. Strong results from Apple and Sony could help the sector get its mojo back.

Economic forecasts

There’s a stack of data on the US economy due this week; highlights include jobs data that probably shows employers added about 180,000 workers in July. That’s Friday. Also watch out for manufacturing and automaker data on Tuesday. The Bank of England is also due to announce a monetary-policy decision on Thursday, with investors expecting the key rate to remain at a record low of 0.25 percent. On the data front, Monday will see Euro Zone core inflation for July released at 10am London time. The annual rate is expected to hold steady at around 1.3 percent.

North Korean Tensions

Meantime, investors remained wary of geopolitical uncertainty on Monday after North Korea conducted another missile test late on Friday. Pyongyang said it had proved its ability to strike the US mainland, prompting Washington to respond by flying two bombers over the Korean peninsula on Sunday.

New EU authorities

Elsewhere, EU member states – excluding the UK - will have until the end of the day to submit bids for hosting the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA). The EMA and EBA headquarters – currently both based in London – will have to move away from the UK in the wake of Brexit, which is due to take effect by the end of March 2019.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.