Week Ahead: Q1 earnings season kicks off on Wall Street

Earnings season gets underway on Wall Street as the big banks get the ball rolling this week. Meanwhile traders are looking at the latest inflation and retail sales figures from the US and a central bank interest rate decision from New Zealand taking place amid the country’s housing boom. 

Earnings 

Coming after fresh record highs for the S&P 500 and Dow and expectations for a major cyclical bounce back for the US economy in Q2 and Q3, this week marks the start of an important corporate earnings season for the market. April is historically a strong month for the market and traders will be looking to corporate updates to power further gains for stocks. However, the market is well priced for earnings to pick up this year already – in fact the 6% rise in the bottom-up EPS estimate for Q1 is the largest on record, according to FactSet. 

Big banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Citigroup get the season off to the customary start. Financials have been on the up as bond yields rose in the first quarter and the sector has outperformed the broader market. 

In addition to the earnings updates and forecasts for the next quarter, market participants will be paying close attention to what the bank CEOs say about the outlook for the US economy and the recent uptick in bond yields which ought to be supportive of bank earnings. In his annual letter to shareholders sent last week, JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon was very bullish on the US, saying the economic boom could easily run into 2023. Whilst he called stock market valuations are “quite high,” he said a multi-year boom may justify current levels. 

Inflation 

A big question facing the market right now is whether inflation is coming – prices are set to rise on a year-on-year basis as the base effects from the pandemic last year play out. But that is not the same as sustained inflation that could pressure central banks into raising rates before the recovery is complete. US CPI inflation figures are due on Tuesday. Last month’s 0.4% increase was in line with expectations but was the last ‘easy’ data point as base effects are set to take effect now. The Labor Department said its consumer price index increased 0.4% in February after rising 0.3% in January. For March the increase is expected to be markedly higher as sharp price declines at the start of the pandemic last year feed through the calculations. 

RBNZ rate decision 

No change expected to the cash rate of 0.25% and there are no updates to forecasts nor a press conference. However, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand meets amid a housing price boom and slowing momentum in economic indicators. The ANZ business survey released on Thursday showed confidence sliding further to –8.4 whilst details on the activity side were flat to weaker. Cost and inflation pressures were said to be ‘intense’ with pricing expectations hitting a new high on data going back to 1992. 

Major economic data 

Key earnings data