With the hot wind of an economic "soft landing" sweeping across Wall Street, the three major US stock indices all recorded their largest weekly gains of the year this week. The most representative S&P 500 index can even reach a historic high by rising another 2%.
Some investors believe that with the help of CPI, PPI, and retail data, the resilience of the US economy can withstand the Federal Reserve's release of high interest rates that are restraining economic vitality. Positive emotions (and hot money) have re entered this year's super bull stocks - Nvidia rebounded from its low point by over 20% in just two weeks, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index to soar high.
(Nvidia daily chart, source: TradingView)
At the same time, some analysts believe that the resilience of the US economy may not be worth the market's optimism as it is now, and they are also looking forward to more financial reports and data to confirm this, such as Target, the second largest retail department store in the US, and Macy's.
In addition to domestic companies that reflect the US economy, some well-known Chinese concept stocks will also release their financial reports next week. Xiaopeng Motors and Futu Holdings will debut on Tuesday, while Xiaomi, which is highly regarded for its car manufacturing business, will disclose its performance on Wednesday. On Thursday, it will be NetEase, Baidu, Bilibili, and Weibo's turn to face the market test.
Next week will still be a week full of the Federal Reserve's presence. Next Thursday morning Beijing time, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its last FOMC meeting. Given that Powell has clearly stated that interest rate cuts are "on the table," the market will use a magnifying glass to search for clues in this minutes.
Another highlight is the Jackson Hole Conference of the Federal Reserve. Although the official schedule has always been released relatively late, we already know the most crucial event - Powell will take the stage to give a speech at 22:00 Beijing time on Friday night.
(Source: Federal Reserve Calendar)
Due to market expectations fluctuating back to the consensus of a 25 basis point Fed rate cut, the market's expectations for Powell are quite moderate. For example, economists from BNP Paribas stated in this week's research report that the key highlight of Powell's speech will be the recognition that progress in inflation is sufficient to allow for interest rate cuts to begin.
For stock market investors, there are still some potential themes worth paying attention to next week.
Firstly, the theme of the game. The highly anticipated "China's first 3A game" "Black Myth: Wukong" will be globally launched at 10am Beijing time next Tuesday (August 20th). Although the global media reviews that lifted the ban in the early stages gave mostly positive reviews, the final "whether or not champagne can be opened" still depends on the first wave of feedback from millions of pre order players worldwide. At the same time, Gamescom, the 2024 Cologne Game Show, will also open on Tuesday local time.
(Source: Game Science, Steam)
The delivery robot company Serve Robotics, which was recently hyped up, will attend the EnerCom Denver conference next Tuesday. This company, backed by Nvidia and Uber, is known for developing artificial intelligence delivery robots.
[align center] (Serve Robotics' delivery robots roam the streets of the United States, source: company website)
