Next Week At A Glance

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For a more comprehensive preview of next week's events, please refer to "The Monday Report", published each Monday morning. For all economic data release dates, ex-div dates and times and other relevant information, please refer to the FNArena Calendar.

By Greg Peel

Despite quite a raft of economic data releases across the globe next week, more US earnings reports, and more local production and earnings reports, one thing, and one thing alone will dominate the markets next week – Wednesday night's Fed policy statement.

A Wall Street Journal article earlier this week heightened expectation that the Fed will be announcing QE3 next week. The sceptics pointed out that the article suggested “August, or perhaps September”, which has been the assumption all along, but talk since is of the Fed sending a signal to the market via the WSJ, quietly preparing it for an August policy shift. We could speculate all day (and also suggest any new initiative may not necessarily be common or garden QE) or we could just wait until Wednesday night to find out.

We might get something more concrete out of the ECB next week as well, but that also remains to be seen. So rather than us all getting a bit over-stimulated, let's just look at the data and corporate releases due.

Before we get to next week, nevertheless, we'll see the first estimate of US June quarter GDP out tonight.

On Wednesday, horses will blow out candles while Australia, China, the eurozone, UK and US will report manufacturing PMIs. On Friday they'll back up with service sector PMIs. It's also unemployment week in the US, meaning the private sector report on Wednesday and non-farm payrolls on Friday.

The US will also see consumer confidence, personal income and spending, construction spending, chain store sales and factory orders.

In Australia, we'll see building approvals, private sector credit, retail sales and the trade balance.

India will make a rate decision and report its trade balance.

There will be another busy round of US quarterly earnings reports.

In Australia, the tail of final resource sector production reports will come to an end after a late flourish up to Tuesday while six-monthly earnings reports begin to build towards the late August peak. Earnings highlights next week will include Navitas ((NVT)), Westfield Trust ((WRT)) and Resmed ((RMD)).

So it will be a week in which the micro meets the macro, with the micro no doubt taking a back seat. Stand by for a binary risk set-up on Wednesday night, with Wall Street set to run either way depending on Uncle Ben's largesse or lack thereof.

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