Week ahead: Nvidia earnings and UK autumn statement in focus

Here are the week’s key events: 

Earnings from Nvidia top the bill for traders this week as investors look to its latest quarterly report to whether this year’s rally in the stock – and the broader market – can be maintained. Meanwhile PMI survey data will be of crucial importance for central banks that are deciding whether they should hike again or move into a rate-cutting cycle as predicted by the markets. 

Monday  

Watch out for any moves by the People’s Bank of China to ease the benchmark 1yr and 5yr loan prime rates. German economic data in the form of PPI inflation is about the only serious event on the economic calendar. Cathie Wood favourite Zoom – a pandemic darling that investors have fallen out of love with – is expected to report flat earnings growth. 

Earnings: Zoom Video Communications (ZM) 

Tuesday  

Nvidia has had a bumper year and a fresh run-up higher in November has propelled it to a fresh record high. Ahead of earnings, investors want answers on how US limits on shipping chips to China has impacted business, as well as the broader outlook for 2025 after a banner 2023. Last week it unveiled the H200, the company’s latest graphics processing unit for training AI models. Goldman Sachs says: “While we do not expect the debate around CY2025 earnings power to be settled on this upcoming earnings call, we expect strong FY3Q results and FY4Q guidance as well as constructive forward-looking commentary from management to reinforce our bullish view on the stock.” On the economic calendar watch for Canadian inflation and the FOMC meeting minutes. 

Earnings: Baidu (BIDU), Medtronic (MDT), HP (HPQ), NVIDIA (NVDA) 

Wednesday  

The British chancellor delivers his autumn statement – a mini-Budget that will come with fresh economic projections that might move sterling and UK assets. The public finances are not in terrible shape, but the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has said now is not the time for giveaways. A sharp fall in inflation and the prospect of the Bank of England cutting rates next year make for a more upbeat outlook than we may have expected earlier in the year. On the economic calendar, watch the US durable goods, weekly unemployment claims, as well as the revised UoM consumer sentiment and inflation expectations. 

Earnings: Deere & Co (DE) 

Thursday  

It’s PMI day! And hopefully an answer to whether there is any life in the Eurozone or UK economies. A month ago, the surveys pointed to further contraction in Europe with the worst performance in nearly three years in October. The HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index declined to 46.5, a 35-month low. The Flash UK PMI Composite Output Index was at 48.6, a 2-month high.  

Friday  

More PMIs, with the US in focus to round off the week’s data. Last month’s surveys showed growth around the flatline. Meanwhile, there was a sizeable drop in US flash PMI selling price gauge in October. And in spite of the higher oil price, input cost inflation fell sharply to the lowest since October 2020. All this will be watched with interest by traders as they work out whether last week’s early-cut narrative can be sustained into the traditional year-end rally.