Wall Street Week Ahead: Warsh’s Jackson speech, PCE inflation and Nvidia earnings in focus

As Wall Street moves into the week ahead, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium is likely to be the main event for investors seeking greater clarity on the outlook for U.S. interest rates and the timing of any further increases.

Warsh is scheduled to speak at the Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole symposium, which will be held from August 27 to August 29 and will feature several leading central bank officials from around the world.

On the economic front, Investors will closely monitor the latest U.S. PCE inflation data, as the Personal Consumption Expenditures index is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation.

Other key releases will include the second estimate of second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product, July new home sales, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for August and July durable goods orders.

On the corporate earnings front, Nvidia will take centre stage when it reports its quarterly results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The chip giant's earnings will provide another important test of whether the AI-driven market rally can maintain its momentum.

Investors will be particularly keen to hear about demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure, the pace of new product launches and ramps, as well as Nvidia's exposure to the Chinese market.

The bond market will also remain under close watch, with several major Treasury auctions scheduled during the week. The U.S. Treasury will sell $69 billion of two-year notes on Tuesday, followed by $70 billion of five-year notes on Wednesday and $44 billion of seven-year notes on Thursday.

US Economic Calendar

August 24 (Monday): No events scheduled

August 25 (Tuesday): Reports on S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Px Index for June, New Home Sales for July, and Conference Board - Consumer Confidence for August will be released.

August 26 (Wednesday): Reports on2nd estimate GDP Q2, Personal Income for July, Consumer Spending for July, and PCE Price Index for July will be released.

August 27 (Thursday): Reports on weekly Jobless Claims for the week ended August 22 and Advance U.S. Trade Balance in Goods for July will be issued.

August 28 (Friday):

ISM Chicago Business Survey for August and Michigan Final Consumer Survey for August will be released.

Earnings

Following companies are scheduled to declare their quarter results in the week ahead – PDD Holdings, XPeng, Intuit, Nvidia, CrowdStrike, Salesforce, HP Inc, Marvell, Ulta Beauty, and BYD.

US Stock Market Last Week

US stocks on Friday ose and trimmed their losses from a shaky week. That’s even though the bond market, which has been the center of Wall Street’s action, remained jumpy and added more pressure Friday.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 33.21 points, or 0.4%, to 7,674.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 517.80 points, or 1%, to 53,277.01. The Nasdaq Composite rose 113.29 points, or 0.4%, to 26,180.45.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 25.44 points, or 0.9%, to 3,017.87.

For the week, the S&P 500 is down 111.39 points, or 1.4%. The Dow is down 455.40 points, or 0.8%. The Nasdaq is down 548.71 points, or 2.1%.