The first week of 2022 starts with a flurry of activity- including labour data, earnings reports and the annual CES all in play.
The market’s are opening after the New Year holiday weekend, coming off a generally great year where most major indexes logged new highs.However, Omicron and the rising cases of Covid-19 as well as inflation and central bank monetary policies remain key concerns and pointers.
Asian markets saw a mixed opening, with shares of embattled real estate giant Evergrande reportedly suspended as the firm moves to release “insider information.”
Meanwhile, European markets are looking to open higher though Monday’s session might see thinned trading as traders return from the holidays. Germany’s DAX was 0.2% higher; while France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.8% as trading picked up from last year’s higher close.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was however seeing little change at the start of trading on Monday.
While markets are likely to tag higher this first few days of the year, here is what to watch out for this week:
Data releases
The week kicks off with loads of economic data, including Manufacturing PMI and construction spending slated for Monday.
There will also be data on December jobs, which is due later in the week, with investors likely to be keen on details in the FOMC’s minutes from the 15 December meeting. The minutes will be released on Wednesday and investor attention will be focused on Federal Reserve’s decisions on interest rates hikes in 2022.
CES 2022
This week will also see the CES (consumer electronics show) take place in Las Vegas, albeit at a much more reduced in-person presence and exhibitions due to a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Among major talking points at this year’s event will be electric vehicles, new trends in digital health, the hot metaverse topic and new display tech from industry giants Samsung and LG. Also to feature prominently at CES 2022 will be non fungible token (NFT) technology, with one highlight being the CEO of 11:11 Media Paris Hilton’s NFT discussion scheduled for Wednesday.
Big Tech firms expected to feature include Facebook parent Meta Platforms (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL).
Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), whose acquisition of Xilinx (XLNX) stalled in December, will also feature at CES 2022. The company is expected to debut the latest products in processors and graphics cards.
Investors might also be interested in companies like General Motors (GM) and Abbott Labs (ABT), which will look to exhibit an electric truck pickup and digital health tech respectively.
CES 2022 will officially run from 5-7 January.
Key earnings this week
Several companies are expected to release their quarterly earnings reports this week.
Smart Global Holdings (SGH) will have its first quarter earnings report out on Tuesday 4 January. Acuity will announce its Q1 fiscal results on Friday, with revenue and EPS expected to jump significantly.
Simply Good Foods (SMPL) is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings on 5 January. Consensus estimates see the nutritional food-maker’s rise 15% to $265, while earnings per share are estimated to jump 17% to $0.34 per share.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) reports its Q1 results on 6 January, the same day that Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) also announces their Q3 results. Both companies release the earnings reports before markets open.
Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) also releases its earnings this week, as does MillerKnoll (MLKN) and Mullen Automotive Inc. (MULN).
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