03/04 Weekly Issue Check: Powell Hearing, Employment Report, Broadcom Earnings

Remarks and monetary policy meetings: Powell remarks, Beijimuk, BOC, ECB meeting
Attention is drawn to comments made by Fed Chairman Powell and other Fed members, as well as announcements by the Beige Book, which gives some predictions of the FOMC. Notably, attention is paid to Powell’s remarks such as monetary policy and economic outlook through a hearing in the House of Representatives. Based on high interest rates, lawmakers expect that people under the middle class are suffering severe damage and will ask questions about prospects for a rate cut. Amid this situation, market participants pay more attention to the economic outlook through Powell’s remarks and the Beige Book. Expressing concerns about the shrinking U.S. economy could lead to greater volatility in the U.S. dollar and interest rates.

In the meantime, there are monetary policy meetings in Canada and the ECB this week, and the market is predicting a rate freeze. On top of that, market participants expect Lagarde and others to show that the possibility of an early rate cut is not as great as the Fed members’ remarks. However, it is expected that it will be in line with the recent remarks of the Fed members as it is not expected to mention the possibility of a rate hike.

Economic Indicators: U.S. Employment Report
This week, the U.S. Employment Report is important. Employment surged in January, exceeding market expectations, but market participants expect employment to fall from 353,000 to 190,000 in February due to weak continuity of related employment, and wages are expected to rise only 0.2% from 0.6% month-on-month. Amid the recent slowdown in major U.S. economic indicators, slowing U.S. employment could affect interest rates on government bonds and the dollar. In other economic indicators, the market predicts that China’s trade balance will have increased compared to the previous month, while most of the market participants in the U.S. economic indicators, including job search report JOLTs and ISM service index, are expected to slow down.

Earnings Season: Broadcom
This week, Broadcom’s earnings have become more important amid the recent pullback and the strong AI-related stocks. Of course, we need to pay attention to the performance of some small technology stocks, including Tokyu Sain, as their guidance results can partially gauge the future of the AI industry. There are also performances in Chinese companies such as Nio and Jingdong Dotcom, as well as retail distribution such as Costco, Foot Locker, and Los Store. This is because we can see the consumption behavior of China and the U.S

03/04 (Monday)
China: Opening of the Political Consultative Conference
Korea: Industrial Production, Retail Sales
Earnings: Sea Limit (SE)

03/05 (Tue)
South Korea: 4Q GDP Growth Rate
China: Caixin Service Industry Index Opens NPC
Eurozone, Germany, UK: Service PMI
US: ISM Service Industry Index
Politics: US Super Tuesday (Democrat, Republican primary)
Remarks: Michael Barr, Vice Chairman of the Fed
Earnings: Nio, Cloud Strike (CRWD), Target (TGT), Charge Point (CHPT), Nordstrom (JWN), Ross Store (ROST)

03/06 (Wednesday)
Korea: Consumer Price Index
Eurozone: Retail Sales
US: ADP private employment report, job search report JOLTs
Report: Beige Book
Monetary Policy Conference of the Central Bank of Canada
Remarks: Fed Chairman Powell (House hearing), Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Governor Daily
Earnings: Jindong Dotcom (JD), Foot Lotker (FL), Campbell Soup (CPB)

03/07 (Thursday)
China: Import and Export Statistics
ECB Monetary Policy Conference
Remarks: Fed Chairman Powell (Senate Hearing), ECB President Lagarde, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester
Earnings: Broadcom (AVGO), Costco (COST), Dockusign (DOCU), Kroger (KR0, MongoDB), Bilibili (BILI), Gap (GPS)

03/08 (Fri)
Korea: Current Account
Germany: Industrial Production, Producer Price Index
Eurozone 4Q GDP Growth
United States: Employment Report
Remarks: John Williams, President of the New York Fed

03/09 (Sat)
China: Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index