TechFlow News, April 26: Over the past week, investors closely monitored developments in the Middle East. Frequent shifts in news flow—coupled with the cancellation of the highly anticipated meeting between U.S. and Iranian representatives and multiple statements by U.S. President Donald Trump—caused market risk sentiment to swing back and forth. Notably, major U.S. stock indices still reached new all-time highs. However, the market outlook is not uniformly positive, as conflict remains prone to reigniting at any moment. Below are key events for markets to watch in the coming week:
Monday, 10:30 p.m. ET: Dallas Fed Business Activity Index for April;
Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. ET: ADP Employment Change for the week ending April 11;
Tuesday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for April; Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for April;
Wednesday, 4:30 a.m. ET: API Crude Oil Stocks for the week ending April 24;
Wednesday, 10:30 p.m. ET: EIA Crude Oil Stocks, EIA Cushing, OK Crude Oil Stocks, and EIA Strategic Petroleum Reserve Stocks for the week ending April 24;
Thursday, 2:00 a.m. ET: FOMC Interest Rate Decision;
Thursday, 2:30 a.m. ET: Press Conference by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on monetary policy;
Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET: Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending April 26; March PCE Price Index; March Personal Spending MoM; Q1 Labor Cost Index (QoQ); Q1 Real GDP Annualized Growth Rate (Advance Estimate); Q1 Real Personal Consumption Expenditures (QoQ, Advance Estimate); Q1 Core PCE Price Index Annualized Growth Rate (Advance Estimate);
Friday, 9:45 p.m. ET: S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing PMI Final for April.
Some market observers believe that Chair Powell’s press conference scheduled for next Thursday may not only be his final one but also potentially the last regular Q&A session between a top Federal Reserve official and journalists.
