Key takeaways:

• Fresh inflation and GDP data tipped to show early signs of slowing in Australia 

• Earnings season wraps up with Woodside Energy, Lynas Rare Earths, Sandfire Resources

Following fresh US inflation data that showed an acceleration in prices throughout January, the ASX is poised to open lower at the start of the new trading week.

Economic Calendar and News

Key economic data awaits local investors this week, with further insights set to be released depicting the state of the Australian economy.

The big-ticket item coming up on Wednesday will be GDP growth for the December quarter. 

Consensus forecasts suggest the Australian economy grew at a seasonally adjusted rate of 2.7% over the 12 months leading up to the end of December. If true, that would represent a marked slowdown versus the 5.9% growth recorded in the year to September. 

For the quarter, growth of 0.7% would suggest the impact of rising interest rates is flowing through to the economy, albeit the meagre growth figure is unlikely to deter the RBA from pursuing its rate hike campaign in order to try to quash inflation.

At the same time, preliminary retail sales data will shed light on the state of the Australian consumer. While retail sales slumped in December by 3.9%, the figures for January are expected to show a turnaround, with sales tipped to rise between 1% to 1.5% on the back of a surge in arrivals from overseas.Investors will also be keeping a close eye on the latest inflation reading for the month. Australian Bureau of Statistics data will be released on Wednesday detailing January growth in consumer prices. An early survey for the result suggests inflation may have eased from a record 8.4% to 7.9%, which could prompt hopes that inflation has peaked. Nonetheless, the mood will also focus on the fact that US inflation unexpectedly increased in the latest reading. The Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index, the Federal Reserve preferred gauge of inflation, rose 5.4% last month, with the core figure up 4.7% versus a year ago. Those numbers have given rise to concerns that the US central bank inflation fight may have some distance to go. That follows another bout of robust consumer spending, with retail sales up 1.8% in January, representing the fastest growth in retail sales in almost two years. Looking at the week ahead, the US economic calendar includes durable goods orders, house prices, manufacturing and services activity, jobless claims, as well as vehicle sales.

Stocks on watch

With the majority of earnings season now done and dusted, it over to a few remaining companies to occupy the headlines today and tomorrow as a trickle of reports come through.

Monday sees results from Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS), Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC), Appen (ASX: APX), TPG (ASX: TPG), Downer EDI (ASX: DOW), Invocare (ASX: IVC), Dicker Data (ASX: DDR), and Kogan (ASX: KGN), among others.

Of the above results, Woodside Energy reports at a time where oil prices have come off the boil over the last year. Lynas Rare Earths is in the midst of an unprecedented boom in demand for rare earths minerals that are central to the decarbonisation theme. On the other hand, Appen shareholders will be hoping the company can overturn a series of disappointing downgrades over recent times.

Meanwhile, earnings season wraps up on Tuesday with results from Adbri (ASX: ABC), Nickel Industries (ASX: NIC), Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR), and PointsBet Holdings (ASX: PBH).Gold prices enter the new trading week on the back foot, with the precious metal back to a two-month low after an explosive start to the new year. With the commodity struggling to gain traction as investors raise their bets for further rate hikes, some of the names that might be on watch this week include Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM) and its suitor Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM), Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST), and Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN). Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) unveiled its latest quarterly result over the weekend. The conglomerate reported a net loss of US$22.8 billion across 2022, capping off a massive reversal from more than US$90 billion in profit the year prior. 

Despite the headline loss, driven by market volatility, the company operating income hit a record US$30.8 billion. While most investors were waiting with bated breath for a view on the US economy, the Oracle from Omaha held off providing any forecast as to what may lie ahead, instead reiterating his confidence in the resilience of the American economy and taking aim at overpriced share buybacks.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) is another US stock that could find itself in the spotlight over the coming days. On  Friday the aircraft manufacturer shed almost 5% of its market cap after it announced that it would again suspend deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner. Having only resumed deliveries of the aircraft in August after a year-plus hiatus, this temporary pause is a setback for the company forcing it to conduct further analysis on a fuselage component. Last but not least, there are further earnings reports out of the US, including retailers like Target (NYSE: TGT), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Lowe (NYSE: LOW), AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), as well as tech stocks Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM), Dell (NYSE: DELL), and Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ).