Weekly Preview: Nonfarm Payrolls, AI Earnings and Policy Signals Put Market Expectations to the Test

Compiled by Wu Blockchain and verified through Aug. 30 Beijing time, this week’s preview runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6 Beijing time. The first major checkpoint comes at 22:00 on Tuesday, Sept. 1, when the U.S. July JOLTS report and August ISM manufacturing PMI are due at the same time. The two releases will be used to gauge U.S. labor demand and manufacturing activity. The market will focus on job openings, hiring rates, and whether the ISM employment and prices components also move higher, as that could alter expectations for the Federal Reserve’s September rate path. At 04:30 on Wednesday, Sept. 2, Dell Technologies will hold its Q2 FY2027 earnings call after releasing results ahead of the call. Investors will be watching AI server orders, the conversion of backlog into revenue, margins in the infrastructure solutions group, and whether memory and supply-chain costs are beginning to squeeze profitability. On Thursday, Sept. 3, at 02:00, the Federal Reserve will publish its Beige Book. The report will offer fresh evidence on employment, wages, prices and business demand across the Fed’s districts. Markets will use it to judge whether the slowdown has broadened and how much room the Fed has to keep tightening at its September meeting. Later that day, at 05:00, Broadcom will hold its Q3 FY2026 earnings call. The key questions are whether revenue from custom AI accelerators, AI networking and related chips can keep growing, and whether new orders, customer concentration, supply capacity and forward guidance continue to support expectations for AI capital spending. At 22:00 on Thursday, Sept. 3, the U.S. August ISM services PMI will be released. Services remain a major source of employment and inflation pressure in the U.S. Jobs, new orders and prices paid will help show whether economic resilience is still strong enough to keep rates elevated. The week’s most important macro release lands at 20:30 on Friday, Sept. 4, with the U.S. August nonfarm payrolls report. New payrolls, the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings and revisions to prior data will shape how markets read U.S. labor strength and will directly influence rate expectations ahead of the September Fed meeting. Beyond the U.S. data flow, the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1. The market will watch for signals on exchange rates, global economic imbalances and digital asset policy. At 17:00 on Sept. 1, the euro area will release preliminary August CPI and July unemployment data. Those figures may affect rate expectations for both the European Central Bank and the Fed. On Sept. 3 at 20:30, Federal Reserve Governor Waller is scheduled for an economic outlook interview, which will also be watched for clues on the policy path. In short, the week is set to answer two questions: whether U.S. labor data, eurozone inflation and central bank commentary will push global rate expectations higher, and whether Dell and Broadcom can show that AI capex is still making its way into revenue and profit.