Fed Chair Jerome Powell in Washington, D.C., in December.
Key Takeaways
Investors will be watching the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and comments from Chair Jerome Powel on Wednesday.
New data releases on PCE inflation and U.S. GDP are also scheduled for this week.
Magnificent 7 members Tesla, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Apple are scheduled to report earnings.
Earnings are also expected from AT&T, Intel, Caterpillar, Comcast, Visa and ExxonMobil.
Wednesday's Federal Reserve interest-rate decision and a spate of closely watched earnings reports are among the top items scheduled for a busy week ahead for investors.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will deliver remarks after the Fed meeting concludes, with investors listening for more clues about the path forward for rates with a new presidential administration now under way. Investors will also get updates for fourth-quarter gross domestic product and Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation data for December.
Several noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings, including Magnificent 7 members Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL). Updates from AT&T (T), General Motors (GM), Intel (INTC), Caterpillar (CAT), Visa (V) and ExxonMobil (XOM) are also on tap.
Monday, Jan. 27
New home sales (December)
AT&T, Brown & Brown (BRO) and SoFi (SOFI) scheduled to report earnings
Tuesday, Jan. 28
FHFA Home price index (November)
S&P Case-Shiller home price index (November)
Consumer confidence (January)
Durable-goods orders (November)
Federal Open Market Committee meeting begins
SAP SE (SAP), Stryker (SYK), RTX (RTX), Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Starbucks (SBUX), Chubb (CB), Royal Caribbean (RCL), General Motors and Sysco (SYY) scheduled to report earnings
Wednesday, Jan. 29
U.S. trade deficit (December)
Wholesale inventories (December)
Retail inventories (December)
FOMC interest rate decision
Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference
Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Tesla, ASML Holdings (ASML), T-Mobile US (TMUS), ServiceNow (NOW) and IBM (IBM) scheduled to report earnings
Thursday, Jan. 30
Gross domestic product (Q4 and full year 2024)
Initial jobless claims (Week ending Jan. 25)
Pending home sales (December)
Apple, Visa, Mastercard (MA), ThermoFisher (TMO), Shell (SHEL), Caterpillar, Comcast (CMCSA), Blackstone (BX), United Parcel Service (UPS) and Intel scheduled to report earnings
Friday, Jan. 31
Employment cost index (Q4)
Personal Consumption Expenditures price index (December)
Chicago Business Barometer (January)
ExxonMobil, AbbVie (ABBV), Chevron (CVX) and Colgate-Palmolive (CL) scheduled to report earnings
Investors Watching Fed Rate Decision, GDP, December Inflation Data
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to meet this week, with officials considering whether to cut interest rates for a fourth consecutive meeting. Futures traders think a cut is unlikely, with persistent inflation and a strong labor market giving officials little room to reduce interest rates.
After the meeting, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to take media questions, which could have an impact on market movements—especially if he offers details on how the Fed might proceed with further rate decisions this year.
On Thursday, the fourth-quarter and 2024 full-year gross domestic product measurement for the U.S. economy is scheduled to be released. The Atlanta Federal Reserve estimates that GDP growth will come in at 3% in the fourth quarter, an increase over the 2.8% economic growth measured in the third quarter.
The Friday release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index will show whether inflation continued to climb in December after moving up to an annual rate of 2.4% in November.
Investors will also get data on home prices and sales levels, retail inventories, jobless claims, employment costs and the U.S. trade deficit.
Tesla Joins Other Tech Titans in Busy Week of Earnings
Several high-profile companies are scheduled to release quarterly financial updates this week, including several members of the Magnificent 7 and top tech, energy, financial and manufacturing firms.
Magnificent 7 members Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Tesla are scheduled to report on Wednesday, while Apple is scheduled to release its financials Thursday.
Several other noteworthy tech firms are scheduled to release financials this week, including chipmaker ASML Holdings, IBM, Intel and ServiceNow.
Oil producers ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell are scheduled to release quarterly financials amid optimism regarding energy policy under the new Trump administration. Expected reports from AT&T, T-Mobile and Comcast will give investors a look at the health of the telecommunications sector.
Expected earnings from Visa, Mastercard and SoFi this week could give market watchers a look at the health of consumers as debt levels have tapered back recently.
Boeing is scheduled to host its investor call on Tuesday after the aircraft maker released earnings data early last week. RTX and Lockheed Martin are also slated to release reports this week.
General Motors is scheduled to issue its quarterly financials on Tuesday, coming after it received an analyst upgrade based on recent moves like shuttering its Cruise robotaxi program.
