Australian shares are poised to burst out of the gates this morning, with US indexes led by tech rallying strongly into the weekend, and churning out one of their best weekly performances in some time on the back of clarity from the Federal Reserve. 

Economic calendar and news

After the Fed Reserve moved to lift interest rates last week, while also providing an updated rate outlook, expect to hear more from the central bank officials this week. 

Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on monetary policy, with good odds he will also touch on growing concerns around inflation, particularly given expectations consumer prices are set to continue rising further in the near-term. He is just one official speaking, however, with many other figureheads also handing down speeches over the coming days.

Meanwhile, this week other economic data includes durable goods orders, interim manufacturing and services data for March, as well as consumer sentiment.Meanwhile, in Australia, RBA Governor Phillip Lowe steps up for an appearance at the Walkley Awards this week. Whether he is pressed on local interest rates remains to be seen, but after last week stunning job numbers, which mark a significant positive for the economy, bets are growing that the first RBA rate hike is looming.

The attention from here will turn to wage growth as the second pillar required to prompt interest rates to increase locally. In the meantime, employment participation has hit records, the unemployment rate is at its equal-lowest level in decades, while underemployment has also fallen sharply.

In other locations abroad, the Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index will provide a gauge on economic output and activity across the region and will include the first signs of any impact arising from the war in Ukraine. Similarly, UK inflation data will shed some light on how quickly prices are accelerating across the country, even with two interest rate hikes across January and February, and a third announced last week.

Stocks on watch

Iron ore miners saw mixed fortunes last week, with some momentum picking up towards the back-end of the week. The likes of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO), BHP (ASX: BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) may be talking points following the increase in iron ore prices on Friday, which have returned back above US$150 a tonne. With China implementing lockdowns across the country, yet Chinese President Xi Jinping also pledging to minimise the economic impact of COVID restrictions, these stocks could be swayed by any fresh news that sends a signal to the market on what to expect.With the risk-on trade back in effect last week, investors will be looking to see whether growth stocks and tech names lead the charge again over the coming days. Some of the major movers from the growth category last week included Vulcan Energy (ASX: VUL), Lake Resources (ASX: LKE), Novonix (ASX: NVX), Block (ASX: SQ2), EML Payments (ASX: EML) and WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC).Meanwhile, shares in Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) soared more than 10%, which follows the company recent decision to announce a 20-for-1 stock split. What more, the e-commerce giant has just closed its biggest takeover deal in five years, with its US$8.5 billion acquisition of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer receiving no challenges from European or US regulators. The deal expands Amazon content library just as it hikes its Prime subscription prices.Staying in the US, and two household names are among the stocks on watch thanks to their quarterly earnings reports due this week. Both Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) will hand down results over the coming days. 

Nike results are sure to offer some insights on the strength of its supply chain, as well as exposure to international markets that might be feeling the effects of inflation, or in the case of China, renewed lockdowns.

For software behemoth Adobe, there will likely be a different focus. The performance of the company cloud division will be one of the key watch-points, in particular Adobe Experience Cloud. Elsewhere, the uptake of Adobe flagship programs in Photoshop, Acrobat and Lightroom will gain scrutiny, not to mention its mobile apps.