Europe will again dominate the coming week (see the first story), but there other issues we should be alert to, such as the approaching deadline for US to find more than a trillion dollars of spending cuts by November 23, the day before Thanksgiving.
There are also important data releases in a number of countries, led again by Europe with growth and inflation figures.
In the US, October retail sales (due Tuesday night, our time) are likely to show modest growth, manufacturing conditions surveys (Tuesday and Thursday) are expected to show an improvement, inflation (Wednesday) is expected to be benign and housing starts and permits will be released, along with leading indicators on Friday.
Data for industrial production and consumer sentiment will also be released.
US analysts are looking for all these reports to be upbeat, in line with the rebound in confidence emerging in the US.
US results will include some important tech stocks in Dell and Applied Materials.
But the big result for the week will be from retail giant Walmart which is expected to show another quarter of sluggish growth in its huge US operations, and solid growth from offshore in both sales and profits.
Walmart leads a slew of results from other important US retailers.
Others reporting include Target, Urban Outfitters, JC Penney, Home Depot, Lowes, Staples Inc, Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Sears Holdings Corp.
Food group H.J. Heinz Co. will post results for the second quarter which will include some data on the company’s businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
Thomson Reuters reported that of the 454 companies on the S&P 500 Index that have reported third-quarter results so far, 70% have posted earnings above analyst expectations.
There have been 70 negative fourth-quarter earnings outlooks, compared with 22 companies issuing positive earnings guidance.
And keep an eye on the debate over those spending cuts in the US.
So far its been a re-run of what we saw in August: lot’s of talk, but little action.
And there’s also a chance the politicians could again stuff up an increase in the debt ceiling, as they nearly did in August.
That expires on November 18, the spending cuts have to be done by November 23.
In Europe
, September quarter eurozone GDP growth (out Tuesday night, our time) is expected to come in around 0.2%, the same as in the June quarter.
Inflation figures for Europe, employment data in the UK and the Bank of England’s inflation or monetary policy report will be issued on Wednesday night, our time.
In Asia, Japan’s September quarter GDP data will be released later today and is expected to show a solid rebound.
The Bank of Japan meets, but, won’t change anything and earnings are expected from three of the country’s major banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Mizuho Financial Group Inc, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.
The AMP’s Dr Shane Oliver says GDP is expected to have grown by "a solid 1.5% rebound in the September quarter following three quarters of contraction partly due to the earthquake" last March.
In Australia, the minutes from the RBA’s last Board meeting will be released tomorrow and shouldn’t be that interesting seeing we had the Monetary Policy Statement and the latest economic forecasts issued on November 4.
Dr Oliver says comments on Thursday from RBA Governor Glenn Stevens will be watched closely for clues as to whether there will be another interest rate cut next month.
Of particular interest will be any guidance as to how seriously the RBA views the European crisis.
The Labour Price Index from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, due for release on Wednesday, is expected to remain benign with a gain of 0.8% in the September quarter and 3.7% year on year, which is where the RBA wants to see it.
Average Weekly earnings for the latest quarter are due for release on Thursday.
The ABS also releases car sales data for October tomorrow.
Full year results are expected from Incitec Pivot Ltd, DuluxGroup Ltd full and Elders Ltd.
James Hardie is expected to release September quarter results.
And annual meetings dominate with well over 100 due to be held this week.
BHP Billiton Ltd headlines the list of meetings, along with Seven West Media Ltd and BlueScope Steel Ltd.
Other meetings will include companies such as Ramsay Health Care Ltd, Cabcharge Ltd, BC Iron Ltd, New Hope Corp Ltd, Nexus Energy Ltd, Resmed Inc, Mirvac Ltd, Spotless Group Ltd, Sonic Healthcare Ltd, Kathmandu Holdings Ltd, Emeco Holdings Ltd, Salmat Ltd, REA Group Ltd, Mount Gibson Iron Ltd, Servcorp Ltd, Patties Foods Ltd, Molopo Energy Ltd, PMP Ltd, McPhersons Ltd, and Western Areas NL.
