Key Takeaways
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to testify before Congress this week. Other Federal Reserve speakers are also scheduled to speak.
- The Consumer Price Index will provide the latest indication of inflation, and updates on wholesale inflation and consumer sentiment will also be released this week.
- JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citibank are set to begin reporting second-quarter earnings.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is due to provide Congress with an update on the state of the economy and interest rates this week, followed by data on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and wholesale price inflation. Market participants are also due to get consumer confidence data for July.
Second-quarter earnings reports are also set to begin rolling out, with JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) leading the way among the major banks. PepsiCo (PEP) and Delta Air Lines (DAL) are also among the companies due to report their latest earnings reports.
Monday, July 8
Tuesday, July 9
- NFIB Small Business Optimism (June)
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Testifies Before the Senate
- Speeches by Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael S. Barr and Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman
- Helen of Troy (HELE) reports earnings
Wednesday, July 10
- Wholesale inventory (May)
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Testifies Before House of Representatives
- WD-40 (WDFC) reports earnings
Thursday, July 11
- Unemployment claims (week ending June 29)
- Consumer Price Index (CPI) (June)
- U.S. Treasury Department Statement (June)
- Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic gives speech
- PepsiCo (PEP), Conagra (CAG), and Delta Air Lines (DAL) report earnings
Friday, July 12
- Producer Price Index (June)
- Consumer Sentiment – Preliminary (July)
- JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Fastenal Company (FAST), and Ericsson (ERIC) report earnings.
Investors focus on Powell’s testimony and CPI inflation data
Market participants will be closely watching the testimony of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who is scheduled to speak before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Lawmakers are likely to ask about the current state of the economy, including the Fed’s timeline for cutting interest rates, which has projected one rate cut this year.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael S. Barr, Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic are also scheduled to speak this week.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) due on Thursday will help indicate whether inflation, which fell to 3.3% in May, continues to decline in June. The Producer Price Index (PPI) due on Friday will give an indication of how inflation is doing at the wholesale level.
Also on Friday, sentiment survey data will reveal whether consumers’ views of the economy remain weak and whether they think pricing pressures will ease.
Big banks report second-quarter earnings
This week kicks off a new series of earnings reports, with several of the nation’s largest banks releasing financial results over the weekend, and earnings from other companies providing insight into the health of the U.S. consumer.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) are due to report second-quarter earnings on Friday that all beat consensus estimates from the previous quarter, but reported lower net interest income from the previous quarter. Bank of New York Mellon (BK) will report earnings after announcing a $6 billion share repurchase plan in its latest quarterly report.
On Tuesday, Helen of Troy (HELE) will report on consumer reactions to beauty and health brands like Revlon, Braun and Vicks, while WD-40 (WDFC) will report with details on its industrial and cleaning product sales.
PepsiCo (PEP) revealed weak sales at its Quaker Foods division in its latest financial report on Thursday, and Delta Air Lines (DAL) is scheduled to report earnings after forecasting a 5% to 7% increase in second-quarter revenue on solid travel demand.
