Monday's Market Minute: Watching Central Bank Decisions

With U.S. and global indices at or near all-time highs to begin the week, investors are watching the potential for new stimulus to come from lawmakers and progress related to the coronavirus vaccine distribution and acceptance, but that’s not all you should be dialed in on.

This week kicks off a two-week stretch where the focus will shift from earnings to central bank policy decisions and inflation data here in the U.S. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a fair amount of attention being directed to a few companies that still have yet to report quarterly results, so let’s begin there.

It seems like retailers will continue to be on the radar for many; keep an eye on a few of the more closely-watched names, like Toll Brothers Inc TOL, AutoZone, Inc. AZO, Adobe Inc ADBE, Costco Wholesale Corporation COST, and Lululemon Athletica Inc LULU.

In addition to quarterly results, we have the Bank of Canada (the BOC) and the European Central Bank (the ECB) policy decisions on Wednesday and Thursday. Both are expected to leave rates unchanged, in line with the trend we’ve seen from policymakers. The BOC and the ECB this week are a prelude to the more closely watched FOMC, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England, all set to provide policy decisions and outlooks next week.

Also worth mentioning, we do have a few key data points to pay attention to: with inflation being a major focal point for many, and certainly for the FOMC, the CPI and the PPI data due out this week has potential to move markets. We also have ongoing Brexit talks, some concerns related to U.S.-China geopolitical tensions, and increasing coronavirus infections across the U.S. These are a few of the fundamentals you should be aware of as we head into the beginning of the week.

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