Next Week At A Glance

This story features NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED. For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: NAB

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

Wall Street is in a jittery mood as we count down towards the presidential election on November 6. At risk is an ongoing stalemate in Congress with regard to spending and tax policies which will potentially push the US “over the fiscal cliff”. The US earnings season, now roughly halfway through, is also providing angst as companies continue to report lower than expected revenues on average, irrespective of earnings results. Outlooks for the December quarter and 2013 have also tended to the soft side, albeit the uncertainty of outlook to a large part reflects back to fiscal cliff concerns.

The bottom line is that Wall Street is now very much focused on the home front, with Europe suddenly off the front page. It is still mostly expected Spain will ask for a bail-out in November but nothing is certain when it comes to Europe. If there is no news from across the pond as America goes to the polls, Wall Street's direction next month will be determined by which party can claim office.

There will be plenty of economic data releases in the US next week to mingle with ongoing earnings results. We'll see personal income and spending data, the Case-Shiller house price index, consumer confidence and factory orders. It is also jobs week, with the ADP private sector number out on Wednesday and non-farm payrolls on Friday. And as Thursday is the first of the new month we'll see the US manufacturing PMI, following on equivalent numbers from Australia, China, the eurozone and UK.

Along with the PMI, Australia will see building approvals, private sector credit, and the September quarter wholesale inflation via the producer price index (PPI).

On the local stock front it's a busy week for both resource sector quarterly production reports and AGMs in general. National Bank ((NAB)) has already provided a profit pre-release but it will officially report full year earnings on Wednesday.
 

Find out why FNArena subscribers like the service so much: "Your Feedback (Thank You)" – Warning this story contains unashamedly positive feedback on the service provided.

Click to view our Glossary of Financial Terms