Wall Street week ahead: US-China trade talks, inflation, Jerome Powell’s speech, Q1 earnings in focus

Wall Street investors in the week ahead will have a plenty of economic data to analyse such as consumer price inflation, retail sales, and Producer Price Index.

Besides economic data, the spotlight will also be on the outcome of trade talks between the United States and China, a speech by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at a conference in Washington, DC, and the first quarter earnings.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that there had been "substantial progress" in talks with China.

He said he would give more details on Monday.

Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Geneva on Saturday to de-escalate a trade war between the world's two largest economies. The talks had continued into a second day on Sunday.

Greer said the differences between the two countries were not as great as previously thought.

Meanwhile, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett told Fox News that more foreign trade deals could be coming with other countries as soon as this week.

Economic Calendar

On May 13 (Tuesday), data on NFIB Optimism Index for April and Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April will be declared.

On May 15 (Thursday), separate reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended May 10, US retail sales for April, Producer Price Index (PPI) for April, Empire State manufacturing survey for May, Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey for May, Industrial Production for April, capacity utilization for April, and Home Builder Confidence Index for May will be released.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech is also scheduled on this day.

On May 16 (Friday), data on Import Price Index for April, Housing starts for April, and consumer sentiment (prelim) for May will be released.

Earnings

Following companies are due to report first quarter earnings in the week ahead — Fox Corp, Acadia Healthcare, Hertz Global, JD.com, Intuitive Machines, Cisco, Nextracker, Boot Barn Holdings, Walmart, and Alibaba ADR.

Markets Last Week

US stock indices closed the week on a quiet note on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 119.07 points, or 0.29%, to 41,249.38, the S&P 500 lost 4.03 points, or 0.07%, to 5,659.91 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.78 points, or flat, to 17,928.92.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.38% from 4.37%.