The Week Ahead: Mag 7 report earnings, Fed to cut rates again and Trump to meet China’s Xi

It’s about as busy a week as you can get for financial markets.

• US earnings season hits warp speed as 5 of the Mag7 stocks report

• President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping

• The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates again

• The Bank of Japan, Bank of Canada and ECB are also in action

• US government shutdown delays data releases

• APEC meetings shine spotlight on Asia

Monday, 27 October

Not the fastest start to the week with just a smattering of mid-tier economic data and no major earnings.

Donald Trump is on a multi-country visit to Asia that’s expected to include meetings with Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister. It comes at the start of a week of APEC meetings in South Korea that will put the focus on Asian economies and trade.

Tuesday, 28 October

Earnings season in the US continues with PayPal, UnitedHealth Group, Booking Holdings, Mondelez and Visa among the large cap stocks to report. HSBC is the major UK listed company to report, while BNP Paribas reports in Paris.

Investors always pay close attention to what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has to say - he delivers a keynote address at the company’s GPU Technology Conference in Washington.

Wednesday, 29 October

The Federal Reserve is widely anticipated to cut rates for the second month in a row, with investors looking out for signs of whether a third will come before the end of the year. The Bank of Canada is also expected to cut but sticky inflation has cast a little extra doubt on the outcome of the meeting.

Earnings come from Boeing, Caterpillar, Etsy, Starbucks and three Magnificent 7 stocks – Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet. On the FTSE, GSK reports.

The Netherlands holds a snap election triggered by the collapse of Prime Minister Dick Schoof’s government in June after Geert Wilders pulled his Freedom party (PVV) out of the 11-month-old ruling coalition.

Thursday, 30 October

US president Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart today on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, Summit. Trump last met Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2019 and the mood of the talks will be important for risk sentiment as the high stakes meeting comes at a key moment relating to trade and tariffs. The trade truce between the two countries expires on 10 November, while Trump has also set a 1 November date for imposing additional 100% tariffs.

The European Central Bank decision is unlikely to have much impact – all eyes are on the December meeting. The Bank of Japan could offer more excitement as it holds its first policy meeting since the election of pro-stimulus fiscal dove Takaichi. It also comes after inflation rose to 2.9% year-on-year in September from the previous month’s 2.7%. The prevailing thinking is that we see a split vote at this meeting and the next hike in December.

US earnings come from Eli Lilly, Mastercard, Estee Lauder, Apple and Amazon. Crypto stocks Coinbase, Riot and Strategy are all due to provide earnings updates as well. In London, Shell and Standard Chartered are due to report.

Friday, 31 October