All eyes this week on Fed talk and US company results

WELLINGTON: Investors are gearing up for the latest earnings from US companies, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, as well as a host of speeches by Federal Reserve officials and reports on retail sales and industrial production.

Morgan Stanley, Netflix, CSX, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric and Honeywell are also among US companies set to report their latest quarterly results this week.

‘‘We expect this earnings season to be another strong one, driven by solid global economic growth, robust manufacturing activity, a weaker US dollar and the benefits from the new tax law,’’ LPL Financial chief investment strategist John Lynch said in a note on Friday.

For the group of FAANG stocks — Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix and Google’s parent Alphabet, analysts expect average firstquarter yearoveryear earnings growth of 25.8%, about double the pace of gains in the fourth quarter and the same period a year ago, according to Reuters.

‘‘We feel good about three out of the five FAANGs: Amazon, Apple, Google,’’ Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Coun sel in Charlottesville, Virginia, said. His firm owns Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google shares.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 slid 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5%. US Treasuries rose, sending yields on the 10year note two basis points lower to 2.82%.

For the week, however, the Dow climbed 1.8%, the S&P 500 rallied 2% and the Nasdaq jumped 2.8%.

The latest data for release includes retail sales, Empire State manufacturing survey, business inventories and housing market index, due last night; housing starts and industrial production, due tonight; Fed’s Beige Book, due tomorrow; as well as weekly jobless claims, Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey, and leading indicators, due on Thursday.

‘‘Undoubtedly, the Trump tax cuts are boosting companies’ bottom lines, Ed Yardeni, president at Yardeni Research, said on Thursday. ‘‘But the overall strength in the economy shouldn’t be underappreciated.’’

Investors will eye this week’s speeches by a slew of Federal Reserve officials for signals they might step up their pace of interest increases from their current guidance for another two this year on expectations of positive economic momentum.

Investors will also keep an eye on the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank this week, in particular for insight on the potential for a global shift to more protectionist trade policy triggered by the Trump Administration. — BusinessDesk