Next Week At A Glance

This story features WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION, and other companies. For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: WBC

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

Once we get through global manufacturing PMI data today and tonight, we move into another week featuring both scheduled and catch-up data from the US. But as far as Wall Street is concerned, data relating to the pre-shutdown period doesn’t really tell us much and data thereafter will be distorted by the shutdown. Given the shutdown will push any Fed tapering possibility well into 2014, as is assumed, none of any of it means that much anymore anyway.

That is not to dismiss the possibility that having had a stellar run all year, we may not see the usual bounce out of October we’ve seen in past years because we haven’t seen the usual July-October correction. There’s been some volatility, but the S&P 500 has posted all-time highs. Wall Street may go a little quiet from here just in case the Fed surprises in December, and if it doesn’t, we might find the annual Santa Rally delayed. But then it would be a true Santa Rally if it doesn’t start until near Christmas.

Next week in the US sees delayed releases for the first estimate of September quarter GDP (which is pre-shutdown anyway) and October jobs (delayed because of the shutdown).  We’ll also see factory orders, chain store sales, personal income and spending and consumer sentiment. Tuesday is global services PMI day, with numbers from Australia, China and the UK also due. The eurozone is running a day behind this month.

China will also provide a monthly data dump next week, including inflation numbers, but not until Saturday.

Australia will see ANZ job ads, retail sales, the services PMI, trade balance and the October jobs numbers. The RBA will hold a meeting on Tuesday – Cup Day – but Glenn Stevens told us everything we need to know earlier this week.

On the local stock front, Westpac ((WBC)) will report full-year earnings on Monday and thereafter the AGM season will roll on. We’re mostly down to the small caps now, of which there are hundreds, but Downer EDI ((DOW)), Fairfax Media ((FXJ)) and Commonwealth Bank ((CBA)) will be among the lingering larger cap highlights, and CBA will provide a quarterly result.

The US comes off summer time on the weekend so as of Tuesday morning, the NYSE will close at 8am Sydney time.

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