Next week in the City: PMIs and Big Tech results loom in a busy week for markets
Markets will have a range of data points and big corporate events to keep them busy next week, including results from the Big Tech firm and a clutch of PMI survey results.
On Tuesday, investors will get their first look at October’s ‘flash’ PMI data with releases due out in the US, UK, Japan and the eurozone. PMI surveys, conducted by S&P and CIPS give an indication of private sector activity.
They will be closely scrutinised for any further clues about how the global economy is coping with the rapid rise in interest rates.
“The focus will likely be on the resilience of growth momentum in the US, including the services component, as well as the depth of growth slowdown in Europe,” analysts at Deutsche Bank said.
In the UK meanwhile activity is expected to have improved as the performance of the manufacturing sector slowly improves.
However, analysts at Investec said “the caveat is that the UK series was revised very substantially last month between the flash and the final release, so it may now be taken with a pinch of salt”.
Markets will get a more precise assessment of the US economy on Thursday with the release of GDP across the third quarter. In Europe meanwhile the European Central Bank will make its latest decision on interest rates, with investors expecting rates to be left on hold.
It’s a busy week for corporate results too, with many of the Big Tech giants updating investors on their performance. Microsoft and Alphabet will report on Tuesday, Meta on Wednesday and Amazon on Thursday.
Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown: “The prevailing mood is one of cautious optimism and that increases expectations. The primary thing investors should keep an eye on is outlook statements.”