Macroeconomics: The Week Ahead: 19-23 October 2026

Aside from the rush of corporate earnings in the US and elsewhere, the new week has G7 and India ‘flash PMIs’ and a number of other surveys, as the week kicks off with China’s Q3 GDP and monthly activity and property data, ahead of UK CPI, Unemployment and Retail Sales, a slew of US housing indicators, Japanese and Canadian CPI, as the Fed goes into ‘purdah’ ahead of its October 27/28 FOMC meeting.

In terms of US earnings GE, GM, IBM, Meta, Netflix and Tesla will headline, but with the semiconductor sector under the microscope the likes of Lam Research, Texas Instruments and Western Digital will also be watched closely, with Halliburton and SLB headlining for the energy sector. Elsewhere Barclays, CATL, Eni, Newmont, Shandong Hongqiao Aluminum Industry and Yara International will be among the highlights.

Those earnings will help to shed some light on whether last week’s reversal of recent fortunes for tech stocks and bond futures was primarily a clear out of excess leverage and portfolio imbalances, or a signal of a more protracted shift in positioning. Stock volatility is on the rise, and as with the spike at the start of June, this looks like a rather belated reaction to higher bond yields and volatility. Back in June both Tech and General IG credit spreads were tightening, now spreads are widening, above all IG Tech, and UST yields are a lot higher, which now puts a lot of focus on demand for the typical surge in corporate bond issuance following earnings releases, and by extension the financing of the AI investment boom.

Geopolitics and Social Unrest

Geopolitics will continue to cast a long shadow, with the Saudi-Houthi conflict shifting the Iran conflict somewhat to the sidelines (at least until after the US mid-term elections, though shipping attacks in the Persian Gulf remain), while the Ukraine conflict continues to rage, with no sign of any respite from attacks on energy, transport and shipping infrastructure, and Ukraine/US relations at a low point.

Social unrest continues to escalate with the focus on the protests in France, which in some cities became riots on Saturday, but with plenty of unrest elsewhere (Spain, US, Albania amongst others), and a general strike called for 11 November in Spain. Fuel prices, widespread cost-of-living pressures and housing prices continue to top the list of grievances, underlining the point that while many developed economies continue to show considerable resilience, there is little or no ‘feel good factor’ for the majority of the public at large.

Commodities and Shipping

In the commodity space, all eyes will remain on energy prices, as well as sky-high shipping rates for crude and refined products, as the pendulum of market sentiment swings from what is a glut of crude supply to the struggle and costs to distribute it. For example, quoted rates for a 2 Mln barrel cargo from the US to Asia cost more than $80 Mln the week before last, i.e. about $40 per barrel, while a similar cargo from the US to Europe was around $46 Mln or $24.50 per barrel, which sits uncomfortably with a less than $10 discount between WTI and Brent (though there are cost factors to consider).

Otherwise, London hosts LME Week, FT Energy Transition Summit and the Coffee Innovation Summit this week.

China: GDP, Activity and Property

China’s Q3 GDP and monthly activity and property indicators are seen little changed from prior readings. Q3 GDP is expected to edge up to 1.0% q/q 4.4% y/y from Q2’s 0.9%/4.3% (helped above all by strong external demand), while Industrial Production is forecast to pick up to 5.5% y/y from August’s 5.2%, but Retail Sales are seen dropping to just 0.2% y/y from 0.5%.

The latest measures to boost public spending are expected to put a brake on the accelerating decline in Fixed Asset Investment, but thanks to declining private sector investment, remaining sharply lower at -7.3% y/y, with Property Investment continuing to be a large millstone with an anticipated fall of -20.0% y/y. No changes are expected at this week’s Loan Prime Rate fixings (1-yr 3.0% and 5-yr 3.50%).

United Kingdom: Labour Market, Inflation and Retail Sales

Two recent Bloomberg articles about the UK energy/power sector highlight the dichotomy between the unexpected resilience in UK growth and its underlying structural weaknesses, and are well worth a read.

“UK Growth Has a Lot to Do With Weaning Off Fossil Fuels” and The UK Is Paying More Than Ever to Steady a Straining Power Grid

Be that as it may, and with the focus firmly on the October 28 Budget, this week sees key labour, inflation and consumer spending indicators. Tuesday is expected to see a further though more modest -8K fall in HMRC Payrolls and a 0.1 ppt increase in the Unemployment Rate to 5.0%, while Private sector Earnings ex-Bonus are seen remaining well contained, edging up to 3.0% y/y.

Wednesday’s CPI is set to jump further to 3.4% y/y from 3.1%, paced largely by fuel costs, though core CPI at 2.8% y/y and Services at 3.6% y/y are likely to evidence some pass-through effects of high energy prices. PPI is likely to show rising pipeline pressures, with Input forecast at 1.4% m/m 7.6% y/y and Output at 0.6% m/m 4.4% y/y (vs. 6.1% and 3.7% y/y respectively in August).

The week ends with GfK Consumer Confidence expected to drop to -15 from -13, and Retail Sales expected to dip 0.2% m/m.

Canada and Japan CPI

Monday’s Canada CPI is expected to see a 0.2% m/m rise, paced by energy (fuel) prices, that would push the y/y up to 3.2%, but core CPI is expected to remain very well contained around 2.0% y/y on all measures, implying the BoC can continue to hold rates at its October 28 meeting.

That said, Macklem’s comments in Bangkok also hinted at high headline CPI, when he said, “The question we are going to be asking ourselves is, ‘Is inflation likely to come back down towards our target on its own, or are we going to have to raise interest rates to influence the path, nudge the path for inflation back towards the target?'”

Japan’s national CPI is anticipated to paint a less alarming picture on inflation than Tokyo CPI, with headline seen rising to 2.1% y/y from 1.9% (by contrast to Tokyo headline 2.7% y/y) and core Ex-fresh Food & Energy to 2.3% y/y from 1.9% (Tokyo 3.0%). It would still make the case for a further rate hike this year, though more likely in December than October.

G7 Flash PMIs

G7 Flash PMIs are expected to be little changed from a solid run of readings in September, with the focus on Prices Paid and Received, as a gauge of pass-through pressures, as well as Orders and business outlooks.

Corporate Earnings Highlights

There are 72 S&P 500 companies reporting this week, with worldwide corporate earnings highlights as compiled by Bloomberg News likely to include: 3M, ABB, Abbott Laboratories, Adani Power, America Movil, American Express, Argenx, AT&T, Atlas Copco, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Banco Bradesco, Barclays, Blackstone, Bloom Energy, Cambricon Technologies, Capital One Financial, CBRE Group, China Coal Energy, China Mobile, China Shenhua Energy, Chubb, CME Group, CMOC, Comcast, CATL aka Contemporary Amperex Technology, Crown Castle, CSX, Danaher, Deutsche Boerse, Disco, DNB Bank, Dover, DSV, Elevance Health, Eni, Fanuc, Fifth Third, General Electric, General Motors, Halliburton, HDFC Bank, Hexagon, Hisense Home Appliances, Honeywell International, Huntington Bancshares, Hygon Information Technology, Iberdrola, IBM, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Intuitive Surgical, JSW Steel, Kuehne + Nagel International, Lam Research, Lockheed Martin, Moody’s, MSCI, Nasdaq, Netflix, Newmont, NextEra Energy, Nokia, Norfolk Southern, Northrop Grumman, PG&E, Philip Morris International, Ping An Bank, Procter & Gamble, Quest Diagnostics, Roper Technologies, RTX, Saab, Samsung Biologics, Sandvik, SAP, Schindler, Shandong Hongqiao Aluminum Industry, Shennan Circuits, Sika, SE Banken, SLB, Spotify Technology, Steel Dynamics, Svenska Handelsbanken, Swedbank, Tesla, Texas Instruments, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UltraTech Cement, Union Pacific, United Airlines, United Rentals, Valero Energy, VeriSign, Volvo, WR Berkley, Waste Connections, WEG, Western Digital, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies and Zijin Mining.