Next week sees the local earnings season ramp up in earnest, kicking off three busy weeks of reports. Results to date have tended to the weak side compared with expectations, although realistically we’ve only just scratched the surface.
We also have to take into account the fact the ASX200 is around -300 points lower than it was when the first reports began trickling out at the beginning of the month, thus reducing the chance what might otherwise have been severe punishment for earnings “misses” were we still at the all-time high.
But the way things are going at present, micro moves for individual stocks may pale against the extreme macro volatility we’re currently experiencing.
There are too many companies reporting next week to list highlights. Please refer to the FNArena Calendar (see above).
Economically, next week we’ll see the monthly NAB business and Westpac consumer confidence surveys and on Thursday the July jobs numbers upon which the RBA is so very dependent, which we can also say for the June quarter wage price index due on Wednesday.
China will release July industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment data.
The US will also report numbers for industrial production and retail sales, along with housing starts, consumer sentiment and, most importantly, the July CPI.
