Top 5 things to watch in markets in the week ahead

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Investing.com — Earnings season ramps up, big central banks kick off their first meetings of 2024 and PMI data is set to show how the global economy is faring at the start of the year. Here's what you need to know to start your week.

US data

While slowing inflation has fueled expectations for the Federal Reserve to start cutting rates this year some policymakers have pushed back on rate cut bets. A key US inflation reading on Thursday will be closely watched for fresh insights on the future path of interest rates.

December's personal consumption expenditures data comes after the price index increased 2.6% in the 12 months to November and monthly prices fell for the first time in more than three and a half years.

The government is to release data on fourth quarter GDP on Wednesday, which is expected to come in at 2.0% after a 4.9% increase in the prior quarter.

Fed officials will be observing the traditional blackout period ahead of their upcoming policy meeting on Jan. 30-31.

Earnings ramp up

Earnings season is ramping up with investors looking ahead to results from some big names including Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which reports on Tuesday, followed by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) on Wednesday, as well as 3M (NYSE:MMM) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC).

The S&P 500 posted a record high close on Friday for the first time in two years, fueled by a rally in chipmakers and other big tech stocks but could lose momentum if earnings results over the next few weeks fail to justify relatively high valuations.

«This new record level of the S&P 500 is sustainable as long as earnings meet expectations,» Steve Sosnick, Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers told Reuters.

«If, on the other hand, we find out that the market has either gotten ahead of