The US economy's performance in the tail end of 2020 is expected to be up around 4%, which is good but not as impressive as the third quarter, which saw a 33% spike in the growth of the economy.
Lastly, earnings reports this week are focused on companies that have benefitted strongly from COVID conditions, namely Apple and Facebook. Tim Cook's company is expected to post record breaking revenue for the last quarter. Mark Zuckerberg's beleaguered Facebook group is expected to show continued growth in its ad business despite a mass exodus from its WhatsApp messenger platform and a boycott by some advertisers of the platform last year.
It's a busy week for market watchers. The Federal Reserve is due to make a statement on interest rates and its aggressive asset purchase program designed to keep the markets moving this week. Data for Q4 of the US economy is due to be published and Facebook, Apple and Tesla are all due to report earnings for the fourth quarter this week.
With the Fed, it appears unlikely it will take its foot off the gas of its asset buying program, currently hitting $120 billion per month, effectively underwriting the markets. Interest rates are also set to remain the same until at least 2023.