Week Ahead starting 18/9/23: Fed; BoE; UK CPI; Kingfisher; 'Triple Witching'

(Video Transcript)

Fed, BoE to announce interest rate decisions

Next week, there are several important events happening in different countries that could affect the stock market. In the US, we will see the release of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) housing market index and the highly anticipated decision by the Federal Reserve (Fed) on interest rates.

Australia will release the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting, and Canada will release the consumer price index (CPI), building permits, housing stocks and API crude oil inventories. China will release loan prime rates, which could have an impact on luxury stocks in Europe.

The UK will release CPI numbers, producer price index (PPI), retail numbers and public sector net borrowing, along with an announcement from the Bank of England (BoE) on interest rates. In the US, we will see releases of existing home sales, initial jobless claims, and consumer confidence numbers.

'Triple witching' event boosts trading

The Euro Zone, UK and US will release flash manufacturing and services purchasing managers indexes (PMIs), which provide information on the state of the manufacturing and services sectors. We will also see the Baker Hughes oil rig count published.

Tom Sosnoff, from Tastylive, talks about the 'triple witching' event, which happens when stock market futures, stock market options and stock index options contracts expire on the same day. It's an important event for professional and retail traders alike.

Sosnoff says September has been a good month for the market, and the 'triple witching' event contributed to that with lots of trading and some specific stocks doing well. He expects this trend to continue.

Earning released for Kingfisher and Ocado

There have also been some interesting earnings releases recently. Companies like Kingfisher, Ocado, ASOS, TUI, Dunelm, Galliford Try, and FedEx have all reported their earnings. The retail sector, including NIX and Jody Sports Fashion, will also release their first-half numbers.

On top of all of this, there has been an increase in companies going public, like Intercard and Mora Therapeutics, and Arm Holdings had a successful IPO. This is good for the stock market because it brings new interest and excitement.

The quick launch of options for Arm shows how a thriving initial public offering (IPO) market can have a positive impact. In fact, SoftBank's ARM Holdings saw a 25% increase in their stock price on Thursday.