Another see-saw week ahead in US
AFTER a week in which we saw US earnings good and not so good stimulate the Dow to both push through the 10,000 level and then close below it, this week could well see the see-saws continue as the corporate results keep on coming.
Expect to be swamped with almost half of all the stocks in the Dow issuing their results.
The blitz includes Microsoft, 3M, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, Texas Instruments, Apple, American Express and Wells Fargo.
On the economic data front, potential market movers include the Beige Book on Wednesday – the Federal Reserve’s public report on current economic conditions released about 2 weeks ahead of the FOMC meeting – and in the UK we have the Bank of England interest rate meeting minutes out on Wednesday, followed by retail sales on Thursday.
MORNING CALL
Despite the negative close for stock markets on Friday, GFT is forecasting a positive start for indices this morning.
Of all the US companies to have issued their earnings numbers so far, around 80 per cent have beaten expectations, and we should see equities stage a mild rebound after the profit-taking which did the damage on Friday.
We expect the FTSE 100 to open around 14 points higher this morning, at 5,204. The German DAX is quoted to open up 15 points at 5,758 and the call on the French CAC is for a nudge higher, up 3 points to 3,830.
Martin Slaney is head of derivatives at GFT Global Markets.