Subtitles section Play video
Welcome to the Investors Trading Academy economic calendar of the week. Each week our news analysts
review the upcoming economic events that you should be monitoring. After a light week for
data the economics calendar heats up and we have a week with both plenty of economic data
and corporate news too, plus a hefty array of central bank speeches on Monday. Markets
have recovered strongly in the first full week of the final quarter, helped along by
central banks that continue to point towards the idea that data will hold them back from
tightening policy any time soon. The US earnings season has begun – that
is, the time when US listed companies release their latest revenue and profit figures. And
yet again analysts are telling investors to brace for weakness. For the first time in
five years, S&P 500 companies are expected to report lower earnings than the previous
year with estimates centered on a decline of around 5 per cent.
Among those companies reporting on Monday is Infosys, while on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson,
CSX and Intel issue profit results. On Wednesday, Bank of America, Blackrock, Wells Fargo, and
Netflix issue earnings results. China numbers, including trade figures and
the CPI number, will weigh heavily on mining shares around the globe, while UK data will
be key to supporting any continuation in the recent sterling bounce. Inflation data in
the UK, China and the US will be in the spotlight this coming week. The consumer price index
in the UK, released on Tuesday, is expected to pick up in September to 0.1% year-on-year
following a drop to 0% in August. The Bank of England, which is targeting 2%
inflation, said the outlook for CPI in coming months looked weaker than it previously thought,
according to the meeting minutes of its 8 September policy meeting. The central bank,
which is taking inflation into close consideration in determining the timing of an interest rate
hike, said CPI was unlikely to reach 1% until the spring of 2016.
The UK's jobs report on Wednesday will therefore be under the microscope with analysts predicting
the headline ILO unemployment rate fell to 5.4% in the three months to September from
a prior 5.5%. Average weekly earnings are forecast to grow 3.1% during the period, compared
to 2.9% in the previous quarter when it reached a six-year high.
On Thursday, the US headline CPI is estimated to fall 0.1% year-on-year in September and
0.2% month-on-month, amid falling oil prices. Core inflation, which excludes volatile items
such as fuel and food, is estimated to have risen 0.16% month-on-month September, compared
to the previous month's 0.07% increase. Year-on-year it is projected to have held at a1.8% gain.
Rounding out the week Friday in the US, industrial production data is scheduled together with
the consumer sentiment survey, the JOLTS job openings survey and data on longer-term capital
slows. Economists estimate that production lifted by 0.2 per cent in September after
falling 0.4 per cent in the previous month.