Last Week
- Powell Reiterates Fed’s patient approach to Congress – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reinforced the patient approach the central bank would maintain in consideration of further interest rate hikes, in his testimony before the U.S. Senate committee.
- Brexit Vote Sequence Scheduled – U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May scheduled three votes March 12–14 related to Brexit. On March 12, members of parliament parliament will vote on the renegotiated withdrawal agreement.
- U.S – China Trade Talks Make Progress – U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer said in testimony to Congress last week that U.S.-China trade talks have been progressing well, but there is still work to be done before an agreement is reached. He noted that the U.S. is no longer threatening to raise tariffs on China goods from 10% to 25% for now.
- U.S Earnings Performed Well in the Fourth Quarter – Companies performed well in the fourth quarter despite much lower expectations compared to previous quarters. Without as much benefit from the changes to the tax code, 485 (97%) of S&P 500 Index companies have reported earnings, with aggregate year-over-year earnings growth of 12.0% and revenue growth of 6.2% for the fourth quarter in 2018.
This Week
- Job Report on Friday – There may have been 185,000 new U.S. jobs added in February, based on surveys of economists, well under January’s 304,000 jobs added.
- Economic Update in China – China’s import and export data as well as headline inflation data will be out on Friday. Surveys show an improvement to imports while exports are likely to drop from January’s 9.1% year-over-year growth.
- European Central Bank Likely to Remain Accommodative – Slower economic growth metrics and muted inflation have investors expecting the European Central Bank members to continue its accommodative monetary policy stance.
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