Market Eyes Fed Meeting, Inflation Data, and Tech Top Earnings

Investors are gearing up for the final Federal Reserve meeting of the year this week. While the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is expected to hold interest rates steady, the market will be paying close attention to comments from Jerome Powell and colleagues for insights into the central bank’s perspective. Currently, core PCE inflation—the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge—is on track to end the year well below the central bank’s own forecasts, staying close to the Fed’s 2% goal.

Additionally, this week’s economic docket is packed with crucial reports such as the consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI), as well as updates on retail sales and industrial production.

Earnings Highlights

Although the pace of earnings reports diminishes this week, a few prominent companies are slated to disclose their financial performance. Key among them are Oracle (ORCL), Costco (COST), and Darden Restaurants (DRI). The week kicks off with Monday’s earnings announcements from Casey’s General Stores (CASY) and Oracle (ORCL). On Tuesday, all eyes will be on Johnson Controls International (JCI), and the spotlight shifts to Adobe (ADBE) and ABM Industries (ABM) on Wednesday. Costco (COST), Jabil (JBL), and Lennar (LEN) are set to report on Thursday, with Darden Restaurants (DRI) wrapping up the week with its Friday report.

Initial Public Offerings Outlook

In the world of initial public offerings, Inno Holdings (INHD) is making its market entrance next week, aiming to issue 2.5 million shares at an anticipated price range of $4 to $5. Additionally, the conclusion of quiet periods for Shimmick (SHIM), Signing Day Sports (SGN), DDC Enterprise (DDC), and CAVA Group (CAVA) means that analysts will start to publish their evaluations, potentially affecting these stocks considerably. CAVA, in particular, has been under scrutiny with predictions of insider selling after its lockup period ends, especially given its 48% rise from the IPO price. Ihor Dusaniwsky of S3 Partners notes that there might be a spike in short selling post-lockup if insiders decide to unload significant shares, which could result in more stock loans being available.

Upcoming Corporate Events

A highlight on the corporate events calendar is Intel’s (INTC) “AI Everywhere Event,” during which the tech giant is expected to unveil its 5th Generation Intel Xeon processors designed for data centers and the Intel Core Ultra processors for laptops. Such an announcement may greatly affect Intel’s stock.

The week also features other events with the potential to sway markets, including AECOM’s (ACM) Investor Day, Affirm Holdings’ (AFRM) Investor Meeting, and L3Harris Technologies’ (LHX) Investor Day. Additionally, Chewy (CHWY) is anticipating a significant milestone as it holds its first-ever investor day.