What To Expect in the Markets This Week

Bitcoin halving is expected to occur on Saturday or sooner, leaving investors to keep an eye on the cryptocurrency as a drop in Bitcoin availability is expected to impact prices. right.

Earnings reports continued this week, with multiple financial institutions including Goldman Sachs (GS), American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Charles Schwab (SCHW) reporting. We are preparing to announce quarterly financial results. . Netflix (NFLX), United Airlines (UAL) and Procter & Gamble (PG) are also scheduled to report earnings.

Market watchers can also expect comments from several Federal Reserve officials, as well as regional economic indicators and a housing market report.

Monday, April 15th

• New York Fed Empire State Manufacturing Survey (April)
• US retail sales (March)
• Business inventory (February)
• Trust of home builders (April)
• Greetings from Dallas Fed President Laurie Logan and San Francisco Fed President Mary C. Daley
• Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab and M&T Bank (MTB) report financial results

Tuesday, April 16th

• Number of housing starts (March)
• Building confirmation (March)
• Industrial production (March)
• Occupancy rate (March)
• UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, BNY Mellon (BK), and PNC Bank (PNC) report earnings

Wednesday, April 17th

• Mortgage loan application (week ending April 12th)
• federal reserve beige book
• United Airlines, Abbott Laboratories (ABT), US Bancorp (USB), Travelers Company (TRV), Citizens Financial (CFG), First Horizon (FHN), and Discover Financial Services (DFS) report earnings

Thursday, April 18th

• Number of new unemployment insurance claims (week ending April 13)
• Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey (April)
• Used home sales results (March)
• US leading economic indicators (March)
• New York Fed President John C. Williams and Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic give greetings.
• Netflix, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Infosys (INFY) report earnings

Friday, April 19th

• Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsby gives a speech
• Procter & Gamble, American Express, Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), and Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) report financial results

Saturday, April 20th

• Possibility of Bitcoin halving event

Bitcoin halving to watch on Saturday

Cryptocurrency investors will be anticipating the Bitcoin (BTCUSD) halving, a recurring event that can affect price movements of the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. It’s unclear when exactly Bitcoin’s halving will occur, but experts believe it could happen on Saturday or sooner.

In the past, Bitcoin has hit new highs after halvings, but it is unclear whether the increasing scarcity of cryptocurrencies will have a similar effect this time. Bitcoin halving is part of its underlying technology, where the reward to Bitcoin “miners” is periodically cut in half, reducing the rate of new Bitcoin issuance.

Cryptocurrencies have risen in anticipation of the halving, with Bitcoin prices hovering near the all-time highs reached in March. However, while past halvings have seen the prices of cryptocurrencies rise, experts said the market situation will be different this time. For example, this year a new spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) changed market trends, reducing the amount of Bitcoin available for trading.

Banking profits continue as attention-grabbing healthcare and technology reports are utilized

After major banks began their latest earnings season last Friday, more financial institutions are expected to follow suit, with healthcare and technology companies also eyeing this week’s reporting calendars.

Goldman Sachs led the pack on Monday, reporting strong fourth-quarter growth in its wealth and wealth management business. Tuesday features a report from Morgan Stanley, which comes just days after reports that regulators are investigating Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division. Discover Financial Services will report financial results on Wednesday, following his February announcement of its acquisition by Capital One (COF). Rounding out the week was American Express (AXP), which released earnings after providing a strong full-year outlook and increasing its dividend last quarter.

Health insurance company UnitedHealth Group reported on Tuesday that it was under antitrust investigation, and Johnson & Johnson also announced its earnings on the same day. Abbott Laboratories will report on Wednesday and Intuitive Surgical will report on Thursday.

Other notable earnings this week include Netflix’s report on Thursday, with the streamer looking to maintain its subscriber growth momentum. A report released Friday by consumer products giant Procter & Gamble will show whether higher prices will continue to drive revenue growth.

Fed speech and economic indicators

Investors will be listening to multiple Federal Reserve speakers this week as they continue to share their reactions to changes in economic indicators.

San Francisco Fed President Mary C. Daley, New York Fed President John C. Williams, and Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic are scheduled to speak later this week.

The Fed expects to cut interest rates three times in 2024, but a sharp rise in employment data and higher-than-expected inflation have led some officials to question whether the Fed will be able to meet those expectations. There is. Several Fed officials said last week that recent inflation data had prompted them to reconsider their rate cut schedule, insisting they needed to see more data showing a slowdown in price increases before moving to lower rates. .

Investors will also get an update on the region’s economy this week. The New York and Philadelphia Fed banks will release economic surveys for their respective regions, and the Beige Book will include summaries of economic conditions in all 12 Fed regions.