Key takeaways:

• A stream of economic data awaits investors this week, while the US earnings season comes to a close with reports from major retailers and tech shares

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Economic Calendar and News

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

• Fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures are scheduled for release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. Economists’ forecasts vary, however, the consensus view is that the Australian quarter softened towards the end of last year. AMP is forecasting growth of 0.1% for the quarter, NAB anticipates GDP growth of 0.2%, and Westpac expects growth to come in flat.
  
  

• Other data on the local economic calendar includes building permits for February, quarterly gross profits, monthly job advertisements, services and manufacturing activity, as well as the Balance of Trade.
  
  

• Overseas, a key data release will be the US non-farm payrolls for February. The last reading showed the US economy added 353,000 jobs throughout January, albeit with seasonal adjustments playing a role. This time around, AMP is looking for 190,000 job additions, Westpac anticipates 170,000 new hires, and Barclays has guided for 225,000 new jobs.
  
  

• A number of officials from the Federal Open Market Committee will deliver key speeches during the week. Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to deliver testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday US-time.
  
  

• Further afield, the European Central Bank will make its next interest rate decision on Thursday local time, which follows a series of rate pauses by the key authority.

Shares on Watch

Some of the potential shares in focus this week include:

• With China holding its annual “Two Sessions” meeting this week to announce economic policy and objectives, economists are mulling whether the world’s second largest economy may announce stimulus measures. These developments could draw attention to the iron ore sector, which ended last week at a four-month low of US$113 per tonne, including shares like BHP (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), and Fortescue (ASX: FMG).
  
  

• In terms of momentum trades, Nine Entertainment (ASX: NEC) ended last week at a 52-week low. On the other hand, financials enter the new week with strong backing – Westpac (ASX: WBC) and ANZ (ASX: ANZ) are both trading at yearly highs – while Goodman Group (ASX: GMG), Aristocrat Leisure (ASX: ALL), James Hardie (ASX: JHX), and Xero (ASX: XRO) are some of the other shares trading at a 52-week high.
  
  

• Stateside, retail businesses are in focus with more earnings set to trickle through. Target (NYSE: TGT), Ross Stores (NASDAQ: ROST), and Costco (NASDAQ: COST) are just three of the retailers that will hand down results amid a tough macro landscape for consumer spending.
  
  

• There are also tech earnings on the horizon courtesy of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD), as well as chip-makers Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO). Surging interest for artificial intelligence is expected to be a focal point of these reports as investors assess demand associated with product offerings tied to this space.