More central banks enter the fray with their latest interest-rate decisions ahead of the Fed’s meeting the following week. China will be announcing its loan prime rate. At the September meeting, the People’s Bank of China left its key lending rate unchanged at 3.0% for the 16th straight month. It is expected to leave interest rates where they are again on Tuesday.
Bank Indonesia is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 5.75% thanks to a strengthening of the rupiah. Even though the rate of inflation has increased, it is within the central bank’s target. The Bank of Korea could raise its base rate by 0.25% following a 0.25% increase in September, as the rate of inflation remained above the central bank’s 2% target.
Staying with inflation issues, consumer prices are expected to remain elevated in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore.
On the corporate front
A bunch of tech companies will step into the spotlight in the hope of reigniting market enthusiasm for AI. Meta (Nasdaq: META) is expected to report strong third-quarter revenue. But investors will want to know if AI is actually improving advertising revenue by creating new opportunities to generate fresh revenue streams.
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) is expected to report a drop in both revenue and earnings for the third quarter compared to the previous three months. The car maker has been offering incentives to clear inventory, which could hurt its wafer-thin margins. Investors will also be looking at Tesla’s capital expenditure, which shows no signs of slowing. Free cash flow turned negative in the previous quarter, and the market will want evidence that new product launches will be on track.
Almost every major media company is now promoting stand-alone streaming services that could erode the moat that Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has long enjoyed. For the third quarter, revenues are expected to grow thanks to membership gains, pricing and advertising. But margins could narrow as Netflix spends more on creating content.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) could provide important insights into the spending patterns of its premium customer base, when it reports third-quarter results. The payments processor is expected to post a strong rise in revenue and earnings for the quarter, thanks to an expansion of its product offering and stronger market penetration.
Consumer goods titan Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) could report modest revenue growth for the first quarter. But earnings could be crimped by rising inflation. The company is facing higher raw material prices, energy costs and transportation expenses.
Other companies that are set to bring home their report cards include industrial conglomerate 3M (NYSE: MMM), car maker General Motors (NYSE: GM), computer giant IBM (NYSE: IBM) and healthcare company Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT).
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Procter & Gamble, 3M and Abbott Laboratories are part David Kuo’s Asian Consumer Portfolio.
