Wall Street Week Ahead: Jobs report, AI earnings and Tesla Cybercab in focus

As Wall Street heads into September, investors will closely watch the August US jobs report in the week ahead for signals about the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move.

The employment data could offer fresh clues on the health of the US labour market and influence expectations around the central bank's interest-rate decisions.

Manufacturing, Services Data on Radar

Beyond the jobs report, investors will track a series of other economic indicators. The latest US manufacturing and services purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs) are due during the week and could provide insights into the strength of economic activity.

The Federal Reserve's Beige Book will also be released.

AI Earnings Season Continues

Another round of technology earnings will keep artificial intelligence firmly in focus. Dell Technologies, Broadcom, Snowflake, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Palo Alto Networks are among the major companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

Investors will look for evidence of continued AI-driven demand, spending on data centres and cloud infrastructure, as well as any signs that elevated technology valuations are being supported by earnings growth.

Tesla Event

Tesla will also command attention with an invite-only Cybercab launch event scheduled for Thursday in Austin, Texas.

Reports indicate that customers could soon be able to request rides in the purpose-built autonomous vehicle through Tesla's existing Robotaxi app. The event is expected to provide further details on Tesla's plans for expanding its autonomous driving and robotaxi operations.

US Economic Calendar

August 31 (Monday): No events scheduled

September 1 (Tuesday): Reports on US Manufacturing PMI August, ISM report On Business Manufacturing PMI for August, Construction Spending for July, and Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey for July will be released.

September 2 (Wednesday): Reports on ADP National Employment for August, Factory Orders for July , and Federal Reserve Beige Book will be released.

September 3 (Thursday): Reports on US Trade Balance for July, Weekly Jobless Claims for the week ended August 29, US Services PMI for August, and ISM Report on Business Services PMI for August will be released.

September 4 (Friday): Data on employment for August will be released.

Earnings

Following companies are scheduled to declare their quarter results in the week ahead – Palo Alto Networks, Dell, Medtronic, Broadcom, Snowflake, HPE, Ciena, and Zscaler.

US Stock Market Last Week

US stocks fell on Friday as moves in the bond market reflected growing investor expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in the near term to curb persistent inflationary pressures.

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 19.23 points, or 0.2%, to 7,711.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.45 points, or less than 0.1%, to 53,559.99. The Nasdaq Composite fell 138.93 points, or 0.5%, to 26,402.42.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 41.97 points, or 1.4%, to 2,972.37.

For the week, the S&P 500 is up 37.39 points, or 0.5%. The Dow is up 282.98 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq is up 221.97 points, or 0.8%.