A week of earnings and economic decisions

Last week markets closed on an optimistic note, albeit with losses in the dominant tech sector. This week is jam packed full with corporate earnings announcements and economic decisions. On the corporate earnings side, watch out for the second quarter profits announcements from more big tech names like Alphabet and Microsoft, as well as a handful of European banks. The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are all set to make big decisions on interest rates and inflation later in the week, and we will also see the US’ GBP (economic growth results) for the second quarter later this week. Brace yourselves! 

Barbenheimer give cinema stocks a boost

As viewers flocked to the big screens over the weekend to catch Barbie, Oppenheimer, or maybe both back to back, many cinema chains saw their stock prices receive a welcome boost. Notably, the large chain Cineworld saw a 17% rise, whilst British cinema chain Vue saw a 10% increase in their share price. Having struggled to recover from closures over the covid-19 pandemic, with Vue and Cineworld both at threat of being delisted from the stock market, many investors will hope that the boost of two blockbusters kick starts an upwards trend.  

Chinese property sector falters

The first indicator of cracks in the Chinese property sector, which is also a major component of their economy, was in 2021 with the collapse of property developed Evergrande. They went through a major debt restructuring, which ultimately saved the company and investors, but failed to spare other property companies in the sector. Dalain Wanda, another property developer in China, made a last ditch bond payment, having scrambled to find the funds over the weekend. This wobble did little to abate investors and shares of many property groups in China full sharply on markets opening this morning. 

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Sources: Nasdaq, Financial Times, IG, AJ Bell