While political and macro-economic dynamics continue to dominate confidence and share market direction in Australia, next week offers an abundance in miners and energy producers releasing operational performance updates for the December quarter, which might give investors an opportunity to also zoom in on the micro (i.e. company specific).
Companies reporting during the week include BHP Group ((BHP)), Oil Search ((OSH)), Santos ((STO)), and Iluka Resources ((ILU)), while Pilbara Minerals ((PLS)), Lynas ((LYC)) and some of the gold miners reporting are likely to also find plenty of interest on the day and beyond. On Friday, it appears Rio Tinto’s ((RIO)) quarterly production release hasn’t revealed any big surprises, either way.
With ResMed ((RMD)) reporting on Friday (Thursday US time) investors might get an early taste of what might the February reporting season locally might look like, though high quality ResMed is hardly representative for the market overall. Its share price has only moved higher while most others were seen faltering since mid-September last year.
Shareholders in Australian Pharmaceutical ((API)) and Metals X ((MLX)) are able to cast their vote during the week. For more details, we refer to the calendar on the website.
Meanwhile, the US reporting season will start gaining traction too.
As far as economic data and surveys are concerned, Monday should bring an update on industrial production and GDP growth in China, while Australia awaits another update on the labour market on Thursday, with US data including the manufacturing PMI, durable goods and new home sales.
Equally important, central banks in Japan and the eurozone will also have a few things to say on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
And then there is always the unexpected. Which company will be next to warn shareholders things haven’t exactly panned out as previously flagged? Is there another target waiting to be jumped upon? Earnings estimates are trending south, but are share prices already reflecting this, plus some?
That’ll be the core question on many an investor’s mind from here onwards. In the meantime, it appears the direction of least resistance is to the upside (I hope I am not jinxing the market with this observation).
