Altrice Investment Co. Limited – Week Ahead in the US Markets

CENTRAL, Hong Kong - June 9, 2019 - PRLog -- Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs report boosted stocks, and investors cheered, as the probability of a Fed rate cut increased. The S&P 500 closed out its best week in about six months.

Despite the positive market reaction, the U.S. economy added only 75,000 nonfarm payroll in May, significantly missing economists' expectations. The weak jobs report further fueled arguments that the U.S. economy could be cooling down more meaningfully than previously estimated, and the escalating trade war is to blame.

Investors are looking for more clues to gauge the overall health of the U.S. economy, and thus the incoming data this week will play a crucial role.

Many argue it's not if but when the Fed will cut rates ahead. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be releasing May's Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data.

"Looking to May, we project headline CPI to rise a more moderate 0.2% as energy price gains eased considerably last month. Excluding food and energy, the core CPI should register a trend-like 0.2% increase. We see little change to the overall trend in inflation as Fed officials prepare to meet later this month," Altrice Investment Co. Limited said in a note.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect core CPI in May to have risen 0.2% from April and 2.1% from last year.

Then on Friday, the Census Bureau will release the retail sales data for May. Core retail sales in May is expected to have jumped 0.5%, according to economists polled by Bloomberg.

Meanwhile on Friday evening, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that the U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods would be "indefinitely suspended."

The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China as well as Mexico will likely continue to be monitored by investors and Wall Street, where some economists warn irreversible damage will force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

"We continue to expect precautionary rate cuts from the Fed beginning in July," Altrice economist John Hampton said on Sunday. "Downward revisions to our outlook for growth in US economic activity and expectations of 75bp in precautionary rate cuts this year from the Federal Reserve were not predicated on adverse direct effects from a major escalation in protectionism against Mexico; they were based primarily on incoming data on manufacturing production, business sector spending, durables orders, and capital goods imports that pointed to a more pronounced slump in goods production than we estimated previously. These data arrived in advance of the migration dispute arose."

Economic Calendar

Monday: JOLTS Job Openings, April (7488 prior)

Tuesday: NFIB Small Business Optimism, May (103.5 prior); PPI Final Demand month-on-month, May (+0.1% expected, +0.2% prior); PPI excluding Food & Energy month-on-month, May (+0.2% expected, +0.1% prior); PPI Final Demand year-on-year, May (+2.1% expected, +2.2% prior); PPI excluding Food & Energy year-on-year, May (+2.3% expected, +2.4% prior)

Wednesday: MBA Mortgage Applications, week ended June 7 (1.5% prior); CPI month-on-month, May (+0.1% expected, +0.3% prior); CPI excluding Food & Energy month-on-month (+0.2% expected, +0.1% prior); CPI year-on-year, May (+1.9% expected, +2.0% prior)

Thursday: Import Price Index month-on-month, May (-0.3% expected, +0.2% prior); Initial Jobless Claims, week ended June 8 (218,000 prior); Continuing Claims, week ended June 1 (1.682 million prior)

Friday: Retail Sales Advance month-on-month, May (+0.6% expected, -0.2% prior); Retail Sales excluding Auto month-on-month, May (+0.5% expected, +0.1% prior); Retail Sales excluding Auto & Gas month-on-month, May (-0.2% prior); Industrial Production month-on-month, May (+0.2% expected, -0.5% prior); Capacity Utilization, May (78% expected, 77.9% prior); University of Michigan Sentiment, June (96.8 expected, 100.0 prior)

Earnings calendar

Monday: N/A

Tuesday: Dave & Buster's (PLAY) after market close

Wednesday: Lululemon (LULU) after market close

Thursday: Broadcom (AVGO) after market close

Friday: N/A

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To receive more information on opportunities within the US markets or the IPO's of 2019, or to find out more about our services and products, contact us at info@altriceinvestment.com or visit our website – http://www.altriceinvestment.com for further details.