Week ahead: Lift-off for Wall Street’s Q3 earnings season

Here are the week’s key events:

Earnings season is underway but gets going properly this coming week with the big bank updates. Meanwhile US inflation data will be eyed as bond markets saw heavy selling last week. Also stay on watch for Chinese inflation and minutes from the last Fed meeting.

Monday

Holidays across Japan and North America could keep see reduced liquidity in bond and FX markets. German industrial production figures and the start of IMF meetings may be of interest but it’s largely a quiet start to the week. FOMC members Logan and Jefferson speak and may address the bond market rout and surging real interest rates.

Tuesday

Japanese preliminary machine tool orders offer some clues about manufacturing activity, whilst Australia’s NAB business confidence report is also due out ahead of the start of the European session. UK retail sales data and Italian industrial production figures are among the main data releases. FOMC member Waller is slated to speak.

Earnings: PepsiCo (PEP)

Wednesday

US producer price inflation is the hot ticket item ahead of consumer inflation due tomorrow. Meanwhile minutes from the September FOMC meeting are due for release, potentially shedding some extra light on the decision to pause rate hikes and whether policymakers are in agreement that another hike should be follow.

Thursday

Amid the carnage in the bond market there is plenty of attention on the US September CPI reading. Inflation posted its biggest monthly increase of the year in August, with the consumer price index rising 0.6% month-over-month for a 3.7% annual increase. The core CPI increased 0.3% and 4.3% respectively. Just as important for the Fed is the labour market – so watch out for the latest weekly unemployment claims data – it was the huge increase in job openings last week that spurred the bond market selloff.

Earnings: Delta Airlines (DAL)

Friday

Chinese inflation data will be watched overnight ahead of the final French CPI reading, whilst the UoM consumer sentiment data is due out in the US. But the focus of the day is on Wall Street and the big banks as earnings season proper kicks off. Citigroup, whose shares have significantly underperformed peers of late, will be among the major banks reporting earnings – how is the overhaul going and will CEO Jane Fraser survive much longer? JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s comments accompanying the earnings release is always worth a read too.

Earnings: BlackRock (BLK), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM), UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC)