Weekly Outlook, 18-22 April

Wide range of data & Earnings

Geopolitical tensions and Inflation concerns still, will be the most important market drivers in the week ahead, while more companies are going to publish their earnings. This is while we have a wide range of economic data as well.

Chinese GDP & Retail Sales – Monday (USDCNH)

The first estimates from the Q1 2022 GDP in China, will be out on Monday. Most probably it will show slight weakness in the biggest global factory, by 0.6% growth in the first quarter. The most downward pressure on economic activities will be from Covid-19 restrictions and lower spending power in other markets. Estimated March retail sales, and industrial production data also, are expected to show slowing momentum as well. These numbers will put more pressure on the Chinese Yuan.

US Housing data - Tuesday and Wednesday. (USD INDEX)

US Census Bureau is due to release its Housing Starts and New Home Sales numbers on Tuesday and Existing Home Sales data on Wednesday. Since data shows that Homebuilders confidence is decreasing, it may affect Housing starts as well. But it means that probably we will have less supply, which in line with the faster rate hike, will lift the sale of both new and Pending Houses. Estimated data will be positive for the US Dollar.

US Durable Goods Order and CB Consumer Confidence – Tuesday (SP500)

This Tuesday overall will be a busy day for the US economy. Along with Housing data, we should follow the CB consumer confidence, which is the key indicator of the economy. Level of confidence can increase or decrease the sales and spending of consumers, which directly increases or decrease the GDP. Also, Durable Goods order will make it more clear for us where people are spending their money. These data are expected to reflect the war in Ukraine on the main economic data and show the weakness, which will be negative for the US stock markets.

Important Speeches to watch - Thursday

BOE’s Governor Bailey, FED’s Chairman Powell & ECB’s President Lagarde, will speak on Thursday. We know inflation is increasing in all developed economies, and the war in Ukraine does not seem that can end that fast. Therefore the world-leading central banks governors' comments on the economic growth and inflation will be very important for the market participants to learn. Wait for a volatile day across the markets on Thursday!

Eurozone PMIs – Friday (EU50)

While despite the war in Ukraine, Purchasing manager index in March showed a significant increase, this week, PMI data should confirm the weakness in the recent activity trends in the manufacturing and services sectors, and are expected to show that activities in both sectors slowed in April. The consensus estimated weakness will put more pressure on the European main Indices, including EU50.

Continuing Of earnings reports - Across the week. (Earnings)

Earnings reports as always will be very important, especially for Stock Markets Traders. Monday, Bank of America, and Charles Schwab will continue the financial sector reports. Tuesday J&J, Netflix, and IBM will release their reports. Tesla, and Procter&Gamble on Wednesday, NextEra Energy, Philip Morris, Union Pacific, and AT&T On Thursday, and finally, Verizon, American Express, and Honeywell earnings on Friday will be the most important reports to watch.