What to Expect in the Markets this Week

Key Takeaways

• President Donald Trump's 100th day in office comes on Wednesday.
• Apple, Amazon. Microsoft. Meta Platforms. ExxonMobil. Coca-Cola. McDonald’s.
• This week, the Federal Reserve will receive the April jobs report as well as key inflation data. Trump has reaffirmed his call for the central bank’s interest rate to be cut.
• Investors are also watching for the GDP data from the first quarter, consumer confidence, a trade-balance update, and housing market reports.

Investors will be able to catch the latest inflation report, April’s jobs data, and major corporate earnings this week. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump will celebrate his 100th day as president. Trade policy developments continue creating volatile stock market movement. 

Apple (AAPL), Amazon(AMZN), Microsoft(MSFT), Meta Platforms(META), ExxonMobil(XOM), Coca-Cola, (KO), and McDonald’s all have quarterly results to report this week. 

The April jobs data and the latest readings of the Federal Reserve’s preferred report on inflation come as President Donald Trump continues to call for the central bank cut interest rates. Market watchers will get to see the first quarter gross domestic product as well as the latest consumer confidence report and updated U.S. data on trade balance. 

Monday, April 28

• Welltower (WELL) Waste Management (WM), Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) Roper Technologies (ROP), Brown & Brown (BRO) Nucor (NUE). Are you scheduled to report earnings?

Tuesday, April 29

• Advanced trade balance for March
• Retail inventories (March).
• Advanced wholesale inventories for March
• S&P Case-Shiller home price index (February)
• Consumer confidence (April).
• Job Openings (April)
• General Motors, Visa (V), Coca-Cola, Astrazeneca (AZN), Novartis (NVS), HSBC Holdings Limited (HSBC) Booking Holdings Limited (BKNG) S&P Global (SPGI), Honeywell (HON), Pfizer (PFE)Spotify (SPOT), American Tower Corporation (AMT) Starbucks (SBUX), United Parcel Service PayPal (PYPL). Are you scheduled to report earnings?

Wednesday, April 30

• 100th day for President Donald Trump
• ADP employment (April)
• Gross domestic product (GDP), Q1
• Personal Consumption Expenditures – March
• Employment Cost Index (Q1)
• Chicago Business Barometer (April).
• Pending home sales (March)
• Microsoft, Meta Platforms UBS (UBS), Qualcomm (QCOM) Caterpillar is a Caterpillar (CAT). Are you scheduled to report earnings?

Thursday, May 1.

• Initial claims for unemployment (Week ending 23 April)
• S&P Global manufacturing PMI (April)
• Construction spending (March).
• ISM Manufacturing PMI (April).
• Apple, Amazon, Eli Lilly (LLY) Mastercard (MA), McDonald’s, Amgen (AMGN), Strategy (MSTR), CVS Health Airbnb (ABNB), Are you scheduled to report earnings?

Friday, May 2

• U.S. employment report (April)
• Factory Orders (March)
• ExxonMobil, Chevron (CVX), Shell (SHEL), Cigna, a Cigna company (CI) Are you scheduled to report earnings?

Mag 7 Stalwarts Highlight the Crowded Earnings Calender

This week, over half of the Magnificent Seven will report their earnings, as well as several notable companies in the tech sector, energy sector, finance sector, and consumer sector. Investors will also be looking out for President Donald Trump’s centennial day in office, which is on Wednesday. Stocks are off to their worst start in over a century.

Apple, the world’s most valuable company by market cap, is due to report on its earnings on Thursday. The iPhone maker faces pressure from Trump’s policies on tariffs on China, where 90% of the products are manufactured.  Apple’s share price fell on tariff announcements but rose last week after it was announced that its products would be exempted. Investors can also expect to hear from Amazon Thursday, which has been downgraded by Raymond James analysts due to its exposure in trade with China.

Microsoft’s scheduled report on Wednesday is not expected to be driven by tariffs. Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud division underperformed in the prior quarter. Meta Platform is scheduled to report on the same day as Instagram parent is embroiled a Federal Trade Commission Antitrust Court Case.

Analysts at JPMorgan say that the company is well-positioned for tariffs to cause economic uncertainty. However, Coca-Cola will report its earnings on Tuesday. McDonald’s scheduled report on Thursday is also expected to provide insight into the U.S. consumers’ health, while General Motors’ report will be released amid questions about how tariffs affect automakers.

Visa’s report Tuesday comes at a time when the credit card company is reportedly bidding for the role of Apple’s credit card payment system. Mastercard, HSBC, UBS and PayPal are among the other financial firms that will be reporting this week. 

Investors in cryptocurrency will be watching the report of Strategy (MSTR), formerly MicroStrategy. The company reported larger-than-expected losses for the previous quarter. 

Several pharmaceutical firms are on the weekly reporting calendar, including AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Pfizer on Tuesday, followed by Eli Lilly and Amgen on Thursday.  ExxonMobil is scheduled to report earnings Friday along with Chevron, Shell and Chevron. Exxon has warned that lower prices for oil could have a negative impact on its earnings. 

The week’s other notable earnings include Starbucks, United Parcel Service and Airbnb. 

April Jobs Report, Inflation Focus 

Investors are looking for the impact that tariff policy will have on economic indicators. The week’s events include Trump’s 100th Day in Office, the April Jobs Report, and the latest Inflation Data.

The employment report is scheduled to be released on Friday, as the jobs market continues to remain resilient despite the uncertainty surrounding tariff policy. The March report showed that job creation jumped by a surprising amount, despite a slight increase in the unemployment rate. Investors are also watching ADP’s private sector payrolls and the data on job openings scheduled earlier in this week.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures report for March follows the Fed’s preferred reading of inflation in February. Inflation remained above the central banks target rate of 2%. 

The Federal Reserve will closely monitor the data on jobs and inflation ahead of its meeting on May 6 & 7. Trump has increased his pressure on Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve Bank, over its interest rate policy. Fed officials are in a comment blackout period before the meeting. 

The U.S. Gross domestic product data is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, and will give investors their first look at the performance of the U.S. economy in the first three months. The economy grew at a slower pace than expected in last year’s fourth quarter. 

Tuesday’s consumer confidence data will help economists gauge how the public is reacting to the uncertainty around trade policy. Tuesday’s advanced trade balance will shed light on the early effects of tariffs on U.S. exports and imports. 

Investors are also watching for new housing data. These include the home price indices for February and the pending home sales in March.