We head into November with Wall Street once again pulling away from all-time highs, once again in the wake of a Fed rate cut. The US earnings season will now enter its long tail and while the beat-count has been above average, actual earnings growth has been flat.
With trade negotiations still far from reaching any point of certainty – and that’s just for “phase one” – upside catalysts are again lacking. Wall Street will likely consolidate once more until there is any sort of breakthrough.
Major US data releases next week, after tonight’s manufacturing PMI, are the services PMI, trade and consumer sentiment.
It’s a bigger week for data downunder, with all of retail sales, job ads, and trade numbers due and an RBA meeting on Tuesday. No rate cut is expected, but commentary remains critical.
Westpac ((WBC)) will report earnings on Monday followed by National Bank ((NAB)) on Thursday, along with results from James Hardie ((JHX)) and Xero ((XRO)). News Corp ((NWS)) and Pendal Group ((PDL)) report quarterly numbers.
There are still plenty of AGMs to wade through next week, including that of BHP Group ((BHP)), while Super Retail ((SUL)) will host an investor day.