Next week’s macro outlook: The “super central bank week” faces an “hawkish test” as Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Qualcomm release earnings reports

PANews July 26—Driven by the triple shock of surging energy prices, the US rolling out new tariffs, and a spike in AI capital expenditures, global investors’ inflation jitters have been reignited. This week, the Nasdaq led US stocks lower, and technology shares endured a double hit from both macro conditions and fundamentals throughout the week. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 5% on Friday, with memory chips bearing the brunt first. Ahead of the Fed’s policy meeting next week, investors remain cautious, and many believe it could bring an unexpected hawkish surprise. The following are the key points the market will focus on in the new week (all Beijing time):

• Tuesday 20:15, the weekly change in US ADP employment for the week ending July 11;
• Thursday 02:00, the Federal Reserve FOMC releases its interest rate decision;
• Thursday 02:30, Fed Chair Powell holds a monetary policy press conference;
• Thursday 17:00, the Eurozone second-quarter GDP annualized growth initial estimate, the Eurozone June unemployment rate, the Eurozone July industrial confidence index, and the Eurozone July economic sentiment index;
• Thursday 19:00, the Bank of England releases its interest rate decision, meeting minutes, and the monetary policy report;
• Thursday 19:30, Bank of England Governor Bailey holds a monetary policy press conference;
• Thursday 20:30, US initial jobless claims, the US June core PCE price index (year-over-year/month-over-month), US June personal spending (month-over-month), and the US second-quarter actual GDP annualized quarterly rate initial estimate/actual personal consumption expenditures quarterly rate initial estimate/core PCE price index annualized quarterly rate initial estimate;
• Friday 17:00, the Eurozone July CPI (year-over-year/month-over-month) initial estimate;
• Friday 21:45, the US July Chicago PMI;
• Friday 22:00, the final reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for July, and the final reading of the US July one-year inflation expectations.

Next week, tech companies’ earnings reports will roll out in a dense wave. Individual stocks including Apple (AAPL.O), Meta Platforms (META.O), Amazon (AMZN.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), Qualcomm (QCOM.O), SK hynix, and others will publish their earnings reports next week.