Investors are likely to continue to be confronted with geopolitical risks in the new trading week. Fears of an escalation of the Middle East conflict between Iran and Israel could lead to selling pressure at any time. The publication of new US price data also has the potential to rekindle inflation concerns and thus interest rate risks at any time. Investors are likely to pay particular attention to the reporting season as it gathers pace.
Geopolitical tensions continue to fuel uncertainty
The renewed tensions in the Middle East could continue to drive investors in the new trading week. According to US media reports, Israel apparently responded to the latest Iranian attack on Friday, which has once again triggered unrest on the stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic.
In this context, investors should continue to be prepared for geopolitical uncertainties in the coming days.
US economic data likely to set the tone in the first half of the week
While Monday initially promises less impetus from the economic data calendar, new purchasing managers from S&P Global are likely to provide all the more impetus on Tuesday (15:45). Investors should check these figures for economic clues.
At midweek, the focus is on so-called durable goods orders in the US, which are used for at least three years or longer (14:30). As a rule, these are associated with larger investments and therefore provide a good overview of the state of activity in US production.
US price data could provide important monetary policy impetus - decline possible
In addition to new initial jobless claims, figures on the GDP price index (14:30) could be a moving factor on Thursday. The latter measures the change in prices for goods and services and thus also inflationary pressure, which could also have an impact on future US monetary policy.
On Friday, the PCE deflator for personal consumption expenditure is likely to provide an important impetus, which is seen as a guideline for future inflation trends. Economists expect the core rate to rise by 2.6% after 2.8% in the previous month (compared to the same month last year).
Michigan consumer confidence rounds off the trading week (16:00). Sentiment is expected to have deteriorated somewhat in April (79.4 vs. 77.8 points).
US reporting season in focus: Tesla, Meta and Alphabet present figures
Meanwhile, the current reporting season should continue to be of interest. On Tuesday, the figures of the recently weakening e-car manufacturer Tesla should be eagerly awaited. Facebook parent company Meta will report on Wednesday and Intel and Google group Alphabet on Thursday.
