The week ahead

The US consumer will be in focus this week with retail sales for July out on Tuesday, as well as earnings releases from Home Depot and Walmart. Following a better-than-expected GDP report in the UK on Friday, markets will be watching wage data on Tuesday and the July inflation report on Wednesday. There’ll be plenty to keep an eye on here this week, with the Reserve Bank set to release its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday, as well as a fresh set of economic projections. The reporting season also kicks off both here and across the Tasman. Local highlights are likely to include Contact Energy, Fletcher Building, Skellerup and Spark, while we'll be watching the likes of LendLease, Amcor, CSL, Transurban and Goodman Group in Australia.