With Apple shares soaring 7% in Friday offshore trading session to help the S&P 500 post its best session since June, 2020, the new week begins on slightly firmer territory than a week ago. The second tranche of US mega-tech stocks report this week, ASX reporting season kicks off, while the RBA also comes into focus.

Economic calendar and news

With last week inflation data coming in above expectations at 3.5% year-on-year, and 2.6% on an underlying basis, the bond market has seen traders raise their bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia may need to adopt a more hawkish stance and lift interest rates several times this year. 

The first real clue as to what awaits could come on Tuesday, when the RBA meets for the first time in 2022. Some observers are expecting the central bank to announce the conclusion of its QE program, but the more influential matter could come in the form of any guidance on a shift in monetary policy. 

The meeting statement due Tuesday is a precursor to a National Press Club speech by RBA Governor Philip Lowe on Wednesday, and the release of the bank statement on monetary policy on Friday.

Other local economic data due this week includes a preliminary reading on retail sales for December, manufacturing activity for January, private sector credit, as well as December import and export numbers.Meanwhile, US unemployment data is this week biggest focal point on the American economic calendar. Forecasts suggest another 150,000 to 200,000 jobs may have been added to the economy in January, however, this period coincided with disruption to the nation supply chain, so it remains to be seen how that may impact the numbers.In the UK, the Bank of England could become the latest central bank to embrace a more hawkish policy. It has already lifted rates once during the pandemic, and growing bets point towards the possibility it may become the first major central bank to lift rates twice thus far. 

Stocks on watch

Shares in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) could remain a bellwether for the market over the coming days after the tech giant did much of the heavy lifting late last week to arrest another slump in major US indexes. The company delivered a bumper earnings report, with growth across just about every one of its product categories despite the implications of supply chain constraints being felt across the world.

Meanwhile, other tech titans are in the spotlight this week as they hand down earnings of their own. This includes Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Meta (NASDAQ: FB). Whereas Amazon could be yet another name caught up in drama impacting supply chains and labour shortages across many of its operating locations, Alphabet and Meta are expected to touch on advertising trends across the internet at a time when more economies have been opening up.

Closer to home, ASX earnings season is also about to formally kick off, and if last week was anything to go by, where several companies issued updates ahead of earnings season, the surprises may not be done yet. On show this week will be debt purchasing and collection group Credit Corp (ASX: CCP), global packaging group Amcor (ASX: AMC), which may shed light on inflation and currency impacts, as well as digital real estate platform REA Group (ASX: REA), which has been at the centre of a surging property market.

Meanwhile, Westpac (ASX: WBC) is set to deliver a third-quarter trading update on Thursday, with the bank having reset its 52-week low during last week market rout. The bank is also in the midst of arranging an off-market buy-back, so further details could emerge on that front given the transaction has already been reworked once due to diminishing appeal for investors as the share price fell.

Sticking with the ASX names, and iron ore stocks like Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), Champion Iron (ASX: CIA), BHP (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals (ASX: FMG) are heading into the new trading week with momentum on their side. The spot price for the key steel-making ingredient rose 6.6% on Friday to fall just short of US$148 per tonne, which means it has risen by almost 25% to start 2022. At the same time, a fresh 52-week low for the Australian dollar is also helping these exporters.

There are Lunar New Year holidays in China this week, but demand for the commodity is expected to remain buoyant as China leading bank does more with policy to address concerns about the prospect of slowing growth. A number of analysts also expect steel production to ramp up once the Winter Olympics conclude, with further stimulus and project fast-tracking expected from the government.