All eyes are on the US CPI

The US CPI

All eyes are on the US consumer price index (CPI). US consumer inflation is expected to slow to 3.4% in April year-on-year (YoY), after a 3.5% increase the previous month. Core CPI is also forecast to slow, from 3.8% in March to 3.6% in April, its lowest pace since April 2021. Economists also anticipate retail sales to rise by 0.4% in the April month-over-month (MoM).

The eurozone

In the eurozone, the market awaits the second reading of gross domestic product. The first reading shows the euro area economy rebounded by 0.3% sequentially in the first three months of the year, following two negative quarters. 0.3% was the fastest growth rate since Q3 2022 and a pleasant surprise for the market, which had expected a more modest rebound of 0.1%.

Burberry

Burberry published better-than-forecast earnings and revenue, but the group warned that H1 will remain challenging and expects revenue to fall by about 25% in the period.

ThyssenKrupp

ThyssenKrupp cut its 2023/24 forecast for sales and net profit for the second time in three months. The German conglomerate expects an annual net loss in the low triple-digit millions of euros, it said on Wednesday, having previously forecast break-even.

Commerzbank

Also in Germany, Commerzbank posted a better-than-expected net profit in Q1, up 29% to €747 million, its strongest quarterly profit in a decade. Commerzbank also raised its outlook for net interest income for the full year.

Cisco

Over in the US, Cisco Systems is expected to post earnings of 83 cents per share on revenue of just under $12.5 billion. Like its peers, Cisco has been investing heavily in the AI segment, focusing on security. Last month, it announced the launch of Hypershield, a cybersecurity AI-driven system. That followed the acquisition of cybersecurity company Splunk for $28 billion last year. This quarter will be the first to include contributions from the Splunk acquisition.