With no economic news to be announced this week at the local front, stock market investors will be looking to the United States (US) for news on interest rates and tariffs as well as jobs and manufacturing data on Thursday, plus reports of early birds for the second-quarter earnings season.

Online stock brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said, “The call for market vigilance remains as the US Fed's [Federal Reserve] next moves cast long shadows over global markets. A Fed official recently made recent remarks hint at a potential 25-basis-point (bp) rate cut at the next FOMC meeting, arguing that trade barriers may only cause short-term price spikes rather than sustained inflation.”

However, it noted that, “yields and rates are reflecting a more cautious picture, with CPI [consumer price index inflation] printing above the Fed's two-percent target and a near-term rise likely due to tariff-induced volatility.

“This push and pull, compounded by speculation on Chief [Jerome] Powell's potential replacement, has markets pricing in delayed Fed easing, moving oil price curves, and pressuring emerging market currencies like the peso.”

Meanwhile, 2TradeAsia.com said higher US tariffs will have a limited drag on gross domestic product (GDP) and even though the government tempered expectations due to global headwinds and supply chain disruptions, the long-term outlook remains “tantalizing, with new estimates at six- to eight-percent annual growth through 2040.”

“Beyond the upcoming earnings cycle, attention should pivot towards the potential for robust growth stories into 2026,” 2TradeAsia.com said.

For stock picks, Abacus Securities Corp. noted that Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) and GT Capital Holdings Inc. (GTCAP) are forming golden crosses, which are bullish technical indicators and signals that a stock’s price may continue to rise.

Abacus said RLC’s rally has been building since early April, and the stock was up as much as 33 percent at one point, and this might stretch out further as interest rates continue to go down.

For GTCAP, “We believe that Toyota's outperformance relative to its peers on a year-to-date basis will redound to another strong quarter for the conglomerate.”