The only central bank of note to announce its latest interest-rate decision will be the People’s Bank of China. In October, the central bank kept its one-year loan prime rate at a record low of 3.0%.
The Chinese economy seems to be growing with interest rates where they are. So, additional support is probably unnecessary, at this time. Additionally, the housing market is still under pressure. So, no change is expected to the five-year loan prime rate, too.
Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit will take place in Shenzhen. Reportedly Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin will meet on the sidelines at the conference. Who knows what they will talk about. An end to the wars between Russia and Ukraine, and the U.S. and Iran would be a good place start. But don’t hold your breath.
On the corporate front
There is probably only one set of results that really matters next week. NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) will report third-quarter results without Jensen Huang at the helm. Interim CEO Colette Kress will be in the hot seat as the chip designer reports a doubling of profit and revenue. But will that be enough to reverse a 30% drop in the company’s share price?
Staying with tech issues, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is expected to report a considerably more modest growth in earnings and revenue in the high single digits. But investors will be scrutinising growth its cloud business, especially if America should tighten the export of chips to China following the fallout from the NVIDIA debacle.
There are also results from a trio of popular Chinese Internet companies, namely, Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), JD.com (SEHK: 9618) and PDD Holdings (Nasdaq: PDD). Search engine Baidu is pinning its hopes on AI, as its traditional online marketing and advertising revenues are declining. Meanwhile, online retailers JD.com and PDD are facing sluggish domestic demand and competition.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is expected to post a strong increase in earnings on revenue that grew modestly. Disney should have a lot to crow about – revenue from Toy Story 5 has crossed the billion-dollar mark. But attendance at its theme parks have been easing.
Other companies pencilled in for results include car maker Chinese XPeng (SEHK: 9868), home-improvement retailer The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), supermarket owner Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and online travel agency Trip.com (SEHK: 9961).
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