Last Week
- European Manufacturing Data Moves in the Right Direction – Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) readings for the U.S., Germany and Europe were released last Thursday. The U.S. was in-line with the March reading at 52.4 on the manufacturing side but fell below expectations by about 2 points to 52.9 on the services side.
- U.S – China Trade Negotiators Aim for Late May, Early June Signing Date – Two rounds of trade talks are set to precede the targeted late May or early June trade deal signing date. Odds of a deal being reached by late-May/early-June have risen notably but a delay is still very possible given the number of outstanding issues.
- Lower Earnings Growth Still Above Expectations – So far, 79 S&P 500 Index companies have reported earnings growth of 0.5% year-over-year and 2.6% year-over-year sales growth. Despite lower figures than the last few quarters, earnings and sales growth are ahead of consensus expectations by 4.2% and 0.3%, respectively
This Week
- Earnings Season Continues in an Industrials-heavy Week – Companies reporting out of the industrial sector will make up a bulk of the reports in the second full week of first quarter earnings. These companies include 3M (MMM), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Caterpillar (CAT), Boeing (BA), United Technologies (UTX) and United Parcel Service (UPS).
- Japan in Focus This Week with Economic Data, Central Bank Meeting – In addition to the Bank of Japan meeting this Thursday, a number of economic data points will be released in Japan this week across retail sales, industrial production and employment. Japan currently plans to increase its consumption tax from 8% to 10% in October with the goal of funding education programs.
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