The week ahead is hectic but seems to begin with a slow start for U.S. stock futures as it shows traces of weakness.
The market is waiting for many events that will determine its direction. There is a policy update by the Federal Reserve, economic reports, and earnings reports and of course the trade talks between the U.S. and China to take place this week.
On Friday, U.S. President Trump came up unexpectedly, to reopen the government. Though it is a temporary move with Feb 15 as the deadline, it will provide great relief to the U.S. citizens.
There is a two-day meeting by the Federal Bank. However, no hike in interest rates is expected as there have been four hikes in the previous year and the shutdown has slowed the economy currently. The news conference with the Federal head Jerome Powell will give some clues on the policy to be taken.
Trade talks to be held between Robert Lighthizer, the trade representative from the U.S. and the Vice Premier of China Liu He will receive much focus from all over the world. The trade impasse has to get over, for the global economy to continue smoothly.
There are 13 stocks in the Dow Jones that are reporting this week. Some important names like Exxon Mobil (XOM), Boeing, Microsoft and Apple (APPL) and other top stocks will be reporting their earnings.
In early trade on Monday, the Dow future was affected with earnings from Caterpillar and Nvidia. Caterpillar, the construction machine company was down by 9 percent on Monday, while chipmaker Nvidia was down by 18 percent in morning trade. The companies have pointed to the trade war with China for their poor earnings.
Earlier iPhone had also cited the same reason for its poor sales in China when CEO Tim Cook blamed the slowing economy in China for poor earnings.