Coming off a strong Friday and fresh record highs for the stock market (and Nvidia), investors look forward to the busiest earnings slate of the season.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed Friday up 0.8% for a 0.6% gain for the week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) finished Friday up 1.6% for a 1.5% return over the five-day stretch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.2% on Friday for a 0.4% loss for the week.
The Iran situation may remain uncomfortably fluid for many, but investors will have plenty of other catalysts to answer the market’s questions — and raise new ones.
Calendar highlights
The busiest earnings week of the quarter and Jerome Powell’s second-to-last meeting as chair of the Federal Reserve greet investors heading into a jam-packed week.
Taking the spotlight will be first quarter earnings results from five out of the seven “Magnificent Seven” Big Tech companies. Investors will get reports from Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) on Wednesday, followed by Apple (AAPL) on Thursday.
With Tesla (TSLA) earnings already in the rear-view, only Nvidia (NVDA) will be left to report later in the calendar.
Also of interest will be earnings from major carriers Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile (TMUS) on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, and payments processors Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) on Monday and Thursday, respectively.
Rounding out a packed earnings slate will be energy supermajors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), along with other big energy names BP (BP), Phillips 66 (PSX), Valero (VLO), and Dominion Energy (D) earlier in the week — expected to provide a read on the impact of the war in Iran on the energy market.
Read more: How oil price shocks ripple through your wallet, from gas to groceries
On the economic data front, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, where traders are pricing in 99.5% odds that the Federal Open Market Committee will keep rates steady at a target range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
Also of interest will be Thursday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index figures, providing investors — and policymakers — with a read on the state of what’s been sticky inflation. The March numbers will be closely watched for any impacts of the Middle East conflict.
The Magnificent Seven stocks, the Big Tech heavyweights that have for the past decade powered the American economy, spent much of the first quarter languishing. During the last week of March, the companies shed a combined $850 billion in market value, and by the end of the month, all seven members were negative on the year.
