Investing Updates: What to Expect in the Week Ahead (Core PCE, FOMC Minutes, and Earnings from Walmart, Palo Alto Networks, Carvana and Booking)

Source:

https://www.moomoo.com/news/post/65647920/what-to-expect-in-the-week-ahead-core-pce-fomc?level=1&data_ticket=1771205507529085

ChatGPT:

The coming week is a compressed but high-impact stretch for markets, shaped by key U.S. macro data and heavyweight earnings. With U.S. markets closed on Monday for President’s Day, attention intensifies across four trading days, beginning with Wednesday’s FOMC minutes and culminating in Friday’s inflation and growth data.

Investors will scrutinize the FOMC minutes for signals on whether the Federal Reserve is shifting from a “pause” stance to holding rates higher for longer. That debate will be tested by a powerful Friday macro bundle: the delayed Q4 GDP print, Personal Income and Spending, and Core PCE inflation. Together, these releases will drive expectations around growth durability and the timing of eventual rate cuts, influencing yields and risk appetite across asset classes.

Earnings are equally pivotal. Results from Walmart will serve as the primary gauge of consumer resilience, with investors weighing same-store sales, margin mix, and forward guidance. Palo Alto Networks anchors the cybersecurity space, where billings trends will reveal whether enterprise security spending remains firm amid shifting AI priorities. Carvana faces a credibility test as markets assess profitability progress against lingering short-seller concerns, while Booking Holdings is under pressure to explain how it defends demand and loyalty as AI-driven trip planners reshape travel search behavior.

Weekly jobless claims on Thursday offer the fastest read on labor-market momentum, potentially swinging sentiment between growth concerns and sticky inflation fears.

Recent trading has been dominated by rate-cut repricing and “AI anxiety,” with heavy turnover in AI, mega-cap, and crypto-linked stocks. Names like NVIDIA, Microsoft, and Amazon continue to act as both AI barometers and stability anchors as markets head into a catalyst-dense week.

Comments:

Walmart earnings and jobless claims data could be important.