Today Australia is kicking off the second consecutive week of important central banks policy meetings. As expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia left the interest rate unchanged at 0.1%.
The Federal Reserve is also beginning its monthly monetary policy meeting today, one that investors are looking forward to especially much, due to many’s expectation that the Fed will start tapering its asset purchases. However, the final outcome won’t be known until tomorrow’s press conference upon the meeting’s conclusion.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI reports continue to pour in today. Both Spain and Germany failed to meet the forecasts, with their results coming in at 57.4 and 57.8, respectively. At the same time, Italy’s manufacturing PMI exceeded investors’ expectations at 61.1.
Unsurprisingly, the eurozone-wide manufacturing PMI was also a disappointment at 58.3, narrowly missing the forecast of 58.5.
Later today we expect unemployment reports from New Zealand.
Today all major US stock indices will trade mostly flat after yesterday’s speedy gains. Stock indices are typically quieter right before the Fed holds a policy meeting, so none of this is unusual.
Companies to keep an eye on include Rivian, Tesla, Pfizer, and Activision Blizzard, among others. The latter two are reporting their quarterly earnings today, while the former two have their own special news associated with each brand.
Rivian, which makes electric trucks, announced it will file for an IPO, where it is looking to get $53 billion, which is a considerable amount for a company that has so little to show for itself so far. But if it succeeds, watch Amazon stock as well, because the retailer is one of the biggest investors in Rivian.
Meanwhile, Tesla, who competes with Rivian in some regards, announced that the Hertz order that recently boosted its own valuation is not finalized yet.
