Inflation in Japan has shown signs of easing, and traders are now watching closely if this could help take some pressure off the Bank of Japan to exit years of ultra-loose monetary policy. Japan’s Core Inflation Rate (due Friday, January 19) is expected to slow further to 2.3% on year in December.

Traders are now focusing on how soon the U.S. Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in 2024, and they should watch closely if inflation keeps decelerating. According to Trading Central's "Economic Insight", the U.S. Inflation Rate for December (due Thursday, January 11) is expected to tick down to 3.0% on year from 3.1% in November.

Using Trading Central's Market Buzz and looking into Top Buzzing ranking to find premarket moves, we have identified Nike as an interesting choice.

Most major markets will be closed on Christmas holidays (Monday & Tuesday) next week. According to Trading Central's "Economic Insight", Japan’s Retail Sales (due Thursday, December 28) are expected to grow 0.3% on month and 3.9% on year in November.

The S&P 500 surpassed a key resistance level on July 27 and is now within 2 per cent of its record high set on Jan. 4. Our interest now lies in identifying stocks that are maintaining positions close to their 52-week highs, driven by robust price momentum and technical strength. These metrics hold particular significance for traders who closely align with a trend-following strategy – a focus area of our analyst team.

The Bank of Japan will express how it views the current economic growth, inflation and interest rate environment when announcing its interest-rate decision on Tuesday (December 19), which could send shock waves across global stock and forex markets. According to Trading Central's "Economic Insight", the BOJ is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged at a negative level of -0.100%.

The Japanese yen is currently boosted by market expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will soon end its long-running ultra-easy monetary policy. Investors are therefore watching closely the Bank of Japan Tankan Report (due Wednesday, December 13) in which sentiment of large Japanese enterprises is gauged. Meanwhile, central banks of the U.S., the U.K. and the E.U. are expected to hold interest rates unchanged next week.

A screen for Large-cap stocks listed in the United States exhibiting above-average dividend growth and yield that are trading near 52-week highs.

Some investors are betting the Fed will even cut interest rates in the first quarter of 2024 the earliest. They would therefore like to see continuously softening labor data, which could lead the central bank to shift gear. The U.S. Official Jobs Report (due Friday, December 8) is expected to show that the growth of non-farm payrolls will slow to 100,000 in November.