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US inflation data on Wednesday is the week's centrepiece, but with oil nearing seven-month highs, Bitcoin (BTC) sentiment shifting, and the Australian dollar at three-year highs, traders have plenty to navigate in the week ahead.
Quick Facts
- US inflation rate (February) is the key binary event for rate cut pricing and equity direction.
- Brent crude is trading around US$82–84/bbl, near seven-month highs, with a $4–$10 geopolitical risk premium baked in from Iran/Hormuz tensions.
- Bitcoin is trading above US$70,000 as of 6 March, a potential trend change if it holds through the week.
United States: inflation in focus
Last month’s US inflation reading showed prices rising 2.4% year-on-year, still well above the Fed's 2% target.
February's inflation rate, due Wednesday, will be scrutinised for signs that tariff pass-through or rising energy costs are pushing prices back up, or whether the slow grind lower is still intact.
The March FOMC meeting on 17–18 March is now priced at only an 4.7% probability of a cut. A higher-than-expected inflation print this week could potentially push rate cut expectations further out.
A softer read opens the door to renewed cut pricing and potential relief across risk assets.
Key Dates
- US Inflation Rate (February CPI): Wednesday 11 March, 12:30 am (AEDT)
Monitor
- Core vs. headline inflation divergence as evidence of tariff pass-through in goods prices.
- 2-year and 10-year treasury yield sensitivity to the print.
- USD direction and FedWatch repricing in the lead up to the 18 March FOMC decision.
Oil: elevated and event-sensitive
Brent is currently trading around US$83–85 per barrel, with a 52-week range spanning $58.40 to $85.12, reflecting the dramatic move triggered by the Middle East conflict.
Analysts estimate the geopolitical risk premium already baked into oil at US$4–$10 per barrel, and average 2026 Brent forecasts have been lifted to US$63.85/bbl, up from US$62.02 in January.
The EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts Brent to average $58/bbl in 2026, well below the current spot price.
The gap between spot and the forecast baseline could be a useful frame for traders this week: any de-escalation signal from the Middle East could rapidly close that gap.
Monitor
- Strait of Hormuz developments and any diplomatic signals from Iran nuclear talks.
- EIA weekly oil inventory data.
- Oil's knock-on to inflation expectations and whether it shifts central bank posture.
- Energy sector equity performance relative to the broader market.
Bitcoin: sentiment watch
BTC has been attempting to stabilise after a brutal 53% correction over the past 17 weeks, fuelled by escalating geopolitical tensions and renewed tariff concerns.
However, yesterday saw a 8% jump back above $72,000, and the crypto “fear and greed index” jumped up to 29 (fear), up from below 20 (extreme fear), where it has been sitting for over a month, indicating a potential sentiment shift.
A cooler-than-expected US inflation print on Wednesday could provide further fuel for the breakout; a hot print risks potentially pulling BTC back below the US$70,000 level it has just reclaimed.
Monitor
- Inflation print reaction on Wednesday as the primary macro catalyst for the move.
- Any rotation into altcoins following BTC strength.
- ETF inflow/outflow data as confirmation of institutional participation.
AUD/USD: Hawkish RBA meets geopolitical crosswinds
The Aussie is trading near more than three-year highs and heading for its fourth consecutive monthly gain, up more than 6% year-to-date, making it the top-performing G10 currency in 2026.
The driver is a clear policy divergence. RBA Governor Michele Bullock signalled the March policy meeting is "live" for a possible rate increase, and warned that an oil price shock from Iran tensions could reignite domestic inflationary pressures.
Market pricing now suggests around a 28% chance of a 25bp hike at the upcoming meeting, while fully pricing in tightening through May, and around a 75% chance of another increase to 4.35% by year-end.
This hawkish read, set against a Fed on hold and facing dovish political pressure, creates a potential structural tailwind for the Aussie.
Monitor
- AUD/USD reaction to Wednesday's US inflation data.
- RBA rate hike probability repricing through the week.
- Iron ore and commodity prices as secondary AUD drivers.
- China demand signals, given Australia's export exposure.
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) reported its latest financial results after the closing bell in the US on Wednesday. World’s leading customer relationship management company topped both revenue and earnings per share estimates (EPS) for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Company overview Founded: February 3, 1999 Headquarters: Salesforce Tower, San Francisco, California, United States Number of employees: 79,390 (2023) Industry: Cloud computing, Enterprise software, Consulting Key people: Marc Benioff (Chairman & CEO) The results The company reported revenue of $8.72 billion vs. $8.715 billion expected.
Revenue was up by 11% vs. the same period last year. EPS reported at $2.11 per share (up by 50.71% year-over-year) vs. $2.055 per share estimate. CEO commentary "We had another strong quarter of executing on our profitable growth plan we set in motion last year, delivering $8.7 billion in revenue and again raising our operating margin guidance for this fiscal year," Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce commented on the latest results. "We're now the third largest enterprise software company by revenue, the number one AI CRM and the number one enterprise apps company.
Most importantly, we're bringing CRM, data, AI and trust together in a single, integrated platform, leading our customers into a new era of incredible productivity and growth," Benioff concluded. Stock reaction Shares of Salesforce ended Thursday’s session up by 2.41% at $230.35 a share. The stock was up by 8% in the after-hours trading.
Stock performance 1 month: +12.40% 3 months: +6.58% Year-to-date: +72.86% 1 year: +43.03% Salesforce stock price targets RBC Capital: $240 Piper Sandler: $232 Macquarie: $250 Truist Financial: $275 Goldman Sachs: $340 Citigroup: $230 Salesforce Inc. is the 41st largest company in the world with a market cap of $224.35 billion. You can trade Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD. GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs.
Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps.
Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Salesforce Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, TipRanks, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap, FactSet
PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD) reported Q3 financial results before the market open in the US on Tuesday. The Chinese company beat both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates, sending the stock higher. Company overview Founded: 2015 Headquarters: Shanghai, China Number of employees: 12,992 (2022) Industry: Internet, Agriculture Key people: Lei Chen The results PDD reported revenue of $7.207 billion for the quarter (up by 94% year-over-year), well above the $5.982 billion expected.
EPS reported at $1.28 per share vs. $1.007 per share estimate. CEO commentary "We are dedicated to generating value through innovations, which forms the foundation of our high-quality development," Lei Chen, CEO of PDD Holdings said in the Q3 earnings report press release. "We continued to invest decisively in areas such as agritech, supply chain technology, and core R&D capabilities. Through these efforts, we aim to create our unique value" Chen highlighted where the company is looking to improve moving forward.
Stock reaction The latest results had a huge impact on the stock. Shares were up by over 18% on Tuesday at $139.84 a share – the highest level since March 2021. Stock performance 1 month: +37.67% 3 months: +49.78% Year-to-date: +71.21% 1 year: +78.02% PDD stock price targets HSBC: $125 Bank of America: $112 Credit Suisse: $140 Barclays: $115 JP Morgan: $120 PDD Holdings is the 58 th largest company in the world with a market cap of $185.31 billion.
You can trade PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PDD) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD. GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time.
Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: PDD Holdings Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, TipRanks, CompaniesMarketCap, Macrotrends
One of the most anticipated earnings releases in the calendar is here. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) announced the latest results after the closing bell on Tuesday. Let’s see how one of the companies from the ''trillion club'' performed.
Company overview Founded: 5/4/1993 Headquarters: Santa Clara, California, United States Number of employees: 26,196 (2023) Industry: Computer hardware, computer software, cloud computing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, GPUs Graphics cards Consumer electronics Video games Key people: Jensen Huang (President and CEO) The results NVIDIA reported revenue that beat Wall Street estimates at $18.12 billion for the third quarter fiscal 2024 vs. $16.12 billion expected. Revenues were up by 205% year-over-year. Earnings per share also beat estimates at $4.02 per share (up by 48.88% year-over-year) vs. $3.367 per share expected.
The company expects revenue of around $20 billion for the fourth quarter. CEO commentary "Our strong growth reflects the broad industry platform transition from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI," Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA said in a letter to investors. "Large language model startups, consumer internet companies and global cloud service providers were the first movers, and the next waves are starting to build. Nations and regional CSPs are investing in AI clouds to serve local demand, enterprise software companies are adding AI copilots and assistants to their platforms, and enterprises are creating custom AI to automate the world’s largest industries.
NVIDIA GPUs, CPUs, networking, AI foundry services and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software are all growth engines in full throttle. The era of generative AI is taking off," Huang highlighted how the world is adapting to and embracing AI. Stock reaction The stock was down by 0.92% at $499.44 a share before the results were announced.
Share price fell by around 1% in the after-hours trading as the market digested the latest results. Stock performance 1 month: +14.39% 3 months: +9.36% Year-to-date: +241.75% 1 year: +211.41% NVIDIA stock price targets Stifel: $600 Piper Sandler: $620 Wedbush: $600 Bernstein: $675 Keybanc: $650 Morgan Stanley: $600 Citigroup: $575 Truist Securities: $668 Jefferies: $610 TD Cowen: $600 NVIDIA Corporation is the 6th largest company in the world with a market cap of $1.233 trillion. You can trade NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.
GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours?
Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: NVIDIA Corporation, TradingView, MarketWatch, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) released first quarter of fiscal 2024 earnings results after the market close in the US on Wednesday. US semiconductor company reported revenue of $4.726 billion, which was above Wall Street analyst estimate of $4.581 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) reported loss per share of -$0.95 for the quarter vs. -$1.005 loss per share expected.
Company overview Founded: October 5, 1978 Headquarters: Boise, Idaho, United States Number of employees: Robert E. Switz (Chairman), Sanjay Mehrotra (President & CEO) Industry: Semiconductors Key people: 43,000 (2023) CEO commentary "Micron’s strong execution and pricing drove better-than-anticipated first quarter financial results," Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of the company said in a press release. "We expect our business fundamentals to improve throughout 2024, with record industry TAM projected for calendar 2025. Our industry-leading High Bandwidth Memory for data center AI applications illustrates the strength of our technology and product roadmaps, and we are well positioned to capitalize on the immense opportunities artificial intelligence is fueling across end markets," Mehrotra looked at what’s ahead for Micron.
Stock reaction The stock was down by 4.24% at the end of trading on Wednesday at $78.69 a share. Shares rose by around 4% after Micron topped analyst estimates for the quarter. Stock performance 1 month: +2.13% 3 months: +13% Year-to-date: +57.54% 1 year: +53.82% Micron Technology stock price targets Rosenblatt Securities: $100 BMO Capital Markets: $90 TD Cowen: $100 Susquehanna: $112 Stifel Nicolaus: $76 Bank of America: $95 UBS Group: $90 Mizuho: $86 Citigroup: $88 Barclays: $85 Morgan Stanley: $71.50 JP Morgan: $80 Micron Technology Inc. is the 168th largest company in the world with a market cap of $86.86 billion.
You can trade Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX and ASX with GO Markets as a Share CFD. GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time.
Why trade during extended hours? Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Micron Technology Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap
One of the largest food retailers in the United States, Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), announced Q3 earnings results before the opening bell in Wall Street on Thursday. Company overview Founded: 1883 Headquarters: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States Number of employees: 465,000 (2022) Industry: Retail Key people: Rodney McMullen (CEO & Chairman) The results Korger reported revenue of $33.957 billion for the quarter, narrowly beating analyst estimate of $33.903 billion. Earnings per share reported at $0.95 per share vs. $0.907 per share expected.
CEO commentary Rodney McMullen, CEO of the company had this to say in the letter to investors after the release of Q3 results: "Kroger's third quarter results highlight the strength and diversity of our business model in a challenged operating environment, as strong fuel performance and growth in our alternative profit businesses supported continued adjusted net earnings per diluted share growth. As consumer spending tightens, we are focused on providing customers with exceptional value. By maintaining our long-term commitment to lower prices, personalised promotions and rewards, we are growing households and increasing loyalty, positioning Kroger for sustainable future growth.
We appreciate our associates and continue to invest in wages, benefits and training, which is resulting in continued improvements in our customer experience. "Our model's strength allows us to navigate many economic environments. We remain committed to balancing investments in associates and greater value for our customers while continuing to generate attractive and sustainable returns for our shareholders," McMullen highlighted the importance of the companies strategy to continue deliver solid results in the future. Stock reaction The stock had a positive reaction following the Q3 results announcement.
Shares were up by just over 2% at $44.59 a share. Stock performance 1 month: -1.59% 3 months: -3.69% Year-to-date: +0.22% 1 year: -7.71% Kroger stock price targets Telsey Advisory Group: $44.88 Roth MKM: $48 Deutsche Bank: $50 Bernstein: $54 BMO Capital: $45 Northcoast Research: $60 Kroger Co. is the 549th largest company in the world with a market cap of $32.29 billion. You can trade Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.
GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours?
Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Kroger Co., TradingView, MarketWatch, TipRanks, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap, FactSet
US business software company Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) announced the latest financial results for first quarter of fiscal 2024 after the closing bell in the US on Tuesday. Company overview Founded: 1983 Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States Number of employees: 18,200 (2023) Industry: Enterprise software Key people: Sasan Goodarzi (CEO), Scott Cook (Chairman) The results Intuit reported revenue of $2.978 billion for the three months ending October 31 st (up by 15% from the same period last year), which was above analyst estimate of $2.878 billion. Earnings per share also topped analyst estimates at $2.47 per share (up by 49% year-over-year) vs. $1.978 per share expected.
The company reiterated full fiscal year 2024 revenue guidance of between $15.890 billion to $16.105 billion, which would represent growth of between 11% to 12% year-over-year. CEO commentary "We had a very strong first quarter, starting our fiscal year with momentum," CEO of Intuit, Sasan Goodarzi said in a letter to investors. "With data and AI core to our strategy, we're accelerating innovation across our global financial technology platform to power the prosperity of consumers and small businesses," Goodarzi added. Stock reaction The stock was up by 0.68% at $565.07 a share on Tuesday.
Share rose by around 1% in the after-hours trading as the latest results were announced. Stock performance 1 month: +14.17% 3 months: +5.33% Year-to-date: +45.18% 1 year: +48.82% Intuit stock price targets Wells Fargo: $575 Bank of America: $580 Morgan Stanley: $525 KeyBanc: $600 JP Morgan: $563 Intuit Inc. is the 71 st largest company in the world with a market cap of $158.18 billion. You can trade Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) and many other stocks from the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, ASX, LSE and DE with GO Markets as a Share CFD.
GO Markets now offers pre-market and after-market trading on popular US Share CFDs. Trade the pre-market session: 4:00am to 9:30am, normal session, and after-market session: 4:00pm to 8:00pm, Eastern Standard Time. Why trade during extended hours?
Volatility never sleeps. Trade over earnings releases as they happen outside of main trading hours Reduce your risk and hedge your existing positions ahead of a new trading day Extended trading hours on popular US stocks means extended opportunities Sources: Intuit Inc., TradingView, MarketWatch, TipRanks, Benzinga, CompaniesMarketCap, FactSet