The spotlight again falls on the Fed when the latest US inflation numbers are released. The headline inflation rate is expected to inch up to 2.7%, whilst the core inflation rate could remain unchanged at 3.3%. Will either of those two numbers affect the Fed’s final interest-rate decision of 2024? Probably not, unless the CPI number comes in a lot higher than forecast.
Staying with interest-rate matters, the Reserve Bank of Australia is forecast to stand pat at 4.35% on the cash rate. But over on the other side of the world, Bank of Canada could cut its key interest rate by 0.5% to 3.25%. Elsewhere, the European Central Bank could cut interest rate by 0.25% to 3.15%.
Corporate Events
There is definitely a Christmassy feel on the corporate front with just a handful of companies pencilled in for quarterly results. But that belies the heft of those that will be stepping up to the crease.
Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) shares are close to an all-time high as the database giant finds a new path to growth. In September, the company posted a 24% jump in first-quarter profit on revenue that increased 8%. The market is expecting more of the same in the second quarter. Oracle said demand for cloud infrastructure is outstripping supply. Over time, Oracle said it could operate 2,000 data centres, which would be up from 162 today.
The owner of Zara, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti, namely, Inditex (NYSE: IDEXY) reported a strong set of half-time numbers in September. It said profit increased 10% on revenue that rose 7.2%. It also said that its Autumn and Winter collections have been very well received with sales up 11% between 1 August and 8 September.
Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) is on tap for fourth-quarter and full-year numbers. The market expects earnings and revenue to be up around 9% in the fourth quarter. Oracle had previously said that it offers a highly differentiated approach to AI and innovative product delivery. But in a tech sector that craves AI, Adobe is perhaps seen as not quite AI enough.
There are also results from chipmaker Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO), department store Macy’s (NYSE: M) and meme stock GameStop (NYSE: GME).
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