A new round of "super week" is coming! Many leading AI companies will release their financial reports, the market is facing a "data drought" test.

Notice that, after experiencing the busiest trading week of the year, investors are about to face another tight weekly schedule. With only a little over eight weeks left in 2025, the first week of November will see a flurry of corporate earnings reports being released. The US stock market ended last week on a high note, with Amazon.com, Inc.'s impressive earnings report released after hours on Thursday driving tech stocks higher before the weekend and leading the tech-heavy Nasdaq index to a cumulative increase of over 2.5% last week. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices saw more moderate gains, both rising by about 1%. As anticipated rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and the meeting between the US and Chinese leaders eased trade tensions further. The AI theme will continue to be a market focus in the coming week, with AI concept stocks such as Palantir, AMD, Super Micro Computer, Inc., and Constellation Energy releasing quarterly earnings reports. Additionally, dozens of other companies in the S&P 500 index are also planning to disclose their performance. On the economic data front, the ongoing government shutdown may cause a delay in the release of the monthly non-farm payroll data for the second consecutive month, making Wednesday's release of the ADP private sector employment data the most important labor market indicator this week. The Manufacturing/Services PMI data released by the Institute for Supply Management and S&P Global, Inc. will also be key points of interest this week, while the preliminary November consumer confidence index published by the University of Michigan on Friday will also be closely watched. Powell says December rate cut is not a certainty The Federal Reserve's 25-basis-point rate cut at the October meeting was in line with market expectations. However, according to Bank of America Corp analysts, the "real heavy signal" came from Fed Chairman Powell's post-meeting press conference, where his statement that another rate cut in December is "not a done deal" attracted attention. Capital.com analyst Daniela Hasson commented: "The FOMC's stance is less dovish than the market expected, with Powell pouring cold water on expectations of another 25-basis-point rate cut in December, weakening the market's risk appetite." A more complicated issue is the nearly complete lack of economic data facing Fed officials, making policy outlook lacking in basis. Analysts from French bank BNP Paribas "still expect the rate-cut cycle to continue, including at the December meeting," while analysts from Bank of America "insist that Powell-led Fed will not cut rates again". Although opinions differ, both institutions agree that the controversial decision-making process is intensifying. BNP Paribas analysts wrote in a report, "This is clearly going to be a chaotic and disorderly process, with Powell's control over the FOMC weakened and regional Fed presidents increasingly expressing differing views." Last week's decision saw a dual-sided disagreement: Fed Governor Stephen Milan advocated for a 50-basis-point rate cut, while Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmitz opposed the rate cut. By Friday, at least three Fed officials had joined Schmitz in questioning the necessity of a rate cut, and the market began to take note of this disagreement - the likelihood of another 25-basis-point rate cut in December had reduced from 95% a week ago to 63%. Analysts from Macquarie pointed out: "This implies that the market is also adjusting its expectations for the Fed to aggressively cut rates before 2026, at least under the current leadership." US-China reach agreement On Thursday, after much anticipation, President Trump and his trade negotiation team announced "reaching an agreement" following the US-China talks, with terms covering a wide range of areas from rare earth metals, soybeans, fentanyl, and port fees. After the meeting, Trump told accompanying reporters, "If I were to evaluate it on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say this meeting deserves a score of 12." The latest agreement once again covers a wide range of areas and sets multiple goals: the US promised to halve fentanyl-related tariffs on China, reducing the average tariff from 57% to 47%; while China agreed not to implement rare earth export controls for at least one year, among other things. Bank of America reports that the agreement "reduces tail risks to the two countries' economies," but Macquarie analysts pointed out that the agreement is not "comprehensive" and mainly restores the status quo from early summer. The market's reaction to the agreement framework announced after the Fed rate cut has been mixed. Key issues such as whether NVIDIA Corporation can sell its highest-performance Blackwell chips to Chinese customers remain unclear, with Trump saying that this topic was not discussed during the talks. These unresolved issues, and which aspects of the framework announced on Thursday can actually be implemented, will be key factors influencing the market's future trends.