Key takeaways:

• Major earnings reports this week will come from Insurance Australia Group, BHP, Woodside Energy, Coles, Woolworths, Santos, Wesfarmers, Allkem, Pilbara Minerals, and Nvidia

Economic Calendar and News

These are the major items on this week’s agenda:

• Concerns about the state of China’s economy will be brought into the spotlight Monday when the country releases its one and five-year loan prime rates, with forecasts suggesting a cut is on the cards after its central bank slashed the benchmark interest rate by 15 basis points last week

• Global economists, finance ministers, and central bank officials will convene for the three-day ‘Jackson Hole Economic Symposium’ to discuss “structural shifts in the world economy” amid recession concerns

• US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is expected to conclude the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium with a speech discussing the outlook of the world’s largest economy 

• Other US economic data events this week include new home sales, durable goods, and the latest reading on consumer sentiment

Stocks on watch

Some of the potential stocks in focus this week include:

• Monday reporting names: Insurance Australia Group (ASX: IAG), BlueScope Steel (ASX: BSL), Iress (ASX: IRE), Reliance Worldwide (ASX: RWC), Altium (ASX: ALU), Breville Group (ASX: BRG), a2 Milk Company (ASX: A2M)

• Tuesday reporting names: Allkem (ASX: AKE), Hub24 (ASX: HUB), Megaport (ASX: MP1), BHP (ASX: BHP), Coles (ASX: COL), G8 Education (ASX: GEM), Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS), Scentre Group (ASX: SCG), Alumina (ASX: AWC)

• Wednesday reporting names: Corporate Travel Management (ASX: CTD), Santos (ASX: STO), Domino’s Pizza (ASX: DMP), Woolworths (ASX: WOW), McMillan Shakespeare (ASX: MMS), WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC), Perpetual (ASX: PPT), Iluka Resources (ASX: ILU)

• Thursday reporting names: Stockland (ASX: SGP), Medibank (ASX: MPL), South32 (ASX: S32), Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC), Qantas (ASX: QAN), Qube (ASX: QUB), Ramsay Health Care (ASX: RHC)

• Friday reporting names: Wesfarmers (ASX: WES), Costa Group (ASX: CGC), Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS)

• While a number of tech companies will report over the coming days, none will be bigger than semiconductor stock Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), where investors will pay close attention to commentary surrounding demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) optimised processors

• More earnings reports will follow from major US retailers including Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Kohls (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN), Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR), and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN), among others.