March 28, 2024
April 2024 EVENTS
March’s ISM Manufacturing PMI previous print was 47.8. The number was lower than the expected 49.5.
Possible influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks
OPEC+ members (including Russia) will meet and are expected to make no major changes to the current deal. In March the cartel extended current production cuts until the end of June.
Possible Influence: Volatile Crude oil
The previous month had unemployment at 3.9%. Nonfarm Payrolls for the previous month printed 275,000.
Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks
The Bank of Canada will meet to set interest rates. They are currently 5%. The forecast is that the rate will remain unchanged. Current expectations are that a rate cut in June is more likely.
Possible Influence: Volatile Canadian Dollar and Canadian Stocks
Core CPI (excluding food and energy) was 3.8%, Year-over-Year in February. Top-line CPI for February came in at 3.2%, above the expected 3.1%.
Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks
The European Central Bank will meet to discuss interest rates. Rates are currently at 4.5% and may remain at this level this month. An interest rate cut is more likely to occur in June, analysts say.
Possible Influence: Volatile Euro and European Stocks
Retail Sales grew by 0.6%, Month-over-Month, in February, which was slightly lower than expected by the market.
Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks
The Bank of Japan will meet to set its interest rates. Last month the bank increased rates by 0.10%, the first increase since 2016. No change is expected this month.
Possible Influence: Volatile Japanese Yen
The 1st Quarter earnings season kicks off in April with big banks being the first to declare their results with some of the world’s largest companies following on.
JP Morgan and Citigroup will post results on April 12th. On April 16th Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are expected to reveal their results. Tesla is expected to post its results on April 17th, Netflix is due to declare on April 18th, Microsoft should post on April 23rd. Facebook is expected to declare on April 24th with Apple expected on April 25th, while AMD is scheduled to announce results on April 30th.
Possible Influence: Volatile US Stocks