Fiscal stimulus is back in focus in the US, again, and Wall Street is getting excited, again. Yet it seems the Republicans’ idea of a compromise is for the Democrats to come down to their longstanding, unwavering offer of US$500bn.
My view? Don’t hold your breath. Renewed speculation does nevertheless make tonight’s US jobs report more interesting. If it’s a “miss”, as the private sector number was earlier in the week, is that bad, or a kick in the Congressional backside to get some fiscal package agreed upon, which is good?
Or is it unimportant given the vaccine put option, which appeared to be the response to the private sector number?
Next week US data is thin on the ground, with inflation numbers towards the end of the week the highlight.
China also reports inflation numbers and trade data for November.
The ECB holds a policy meeting.
Locally we’ll see the ANZ job ads, NAB business confidence and Westpac consumer confidence reports.
We’ll also see September quarter house prices – a bit old now – and an RBA Bulletin.
On Friday, S&P/ASX will announce promotions/relegations among indices, which become effective the following Friday.
The local corporate calendar thins out as we head to the summer break, but there’s still a bit to watch out for.
Bank of Queensland ((BOQ)), Pendal Group ((PDL)) and Westpac ((WBC)) hold AGMs next week, and Perpetual ((PPT)) hosts an investor day.
Metcash ((MTS)) reports earnings on Monday.
