Christine Ji
4 min read
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There's a handful of potentially market-moving events on the calendar this week.
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US-China trade talks and May inflation data will be the highest-profile events for traders.
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Apple's WWDC will shed light on the company's supply chain and AI strategy.
Investors will be monitoring a host of potentially market-moving events this week, with updates due on trade and inflation, while Apple kicks off a highly anticipated product event.
Recession fears have edged down after the turmoil that racked markets earlier in the spring, but the market is still struggling with uncertainty regarding President Donald Trump's trade policies and their implications for the economy.
While last week's jobs report showed a solid labor market, investors are monitoring how the inflation side of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate fares this week, and how it will influence the rate-cut outlook for the year.
Meanwhile, Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference will provide insight into not only new software updates but also the future of the AI race among mega-cap tech companies.
Here's what investors are watching this week.
After last week's phone call between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping, China and US trade officials are meeting in London on Monday for two days of trade negotiations.
Last month's trade talks were key to calming recession fears and helped propel the S&P 500 to its highest levels since February, but concerns still remain. The biggest negotiation topic will be over China's exports of rare earth metals, which are critical components in manufacturing semiconductors, smartphones, and other technologies.
Continued improvements in trade relations between the two countries will be critical to reducing volatility in the market and could shed clarity on the direction of tariff rates.
The consumer price index for May will be released on Wednesday. Last month's reading of 2.3% was fairly benign, but investors will continue to watch for signs of Trump's tariffs showing up in the hard data.
Importantly, the reading will be key in determining the Fed's next move. The median forecast is for annual consumer inflation to have risen 2.5% last month. Meanwhile, expectations for the June 17 Fed meeting are for officials to keep interest rates unchanged.
"The big surprise could be how little Trump's tariffs are boosting inflation despite upward pressures on prices-paid and prices-received indexes in the Fed's regional business surveys," wrote on Sunday.
