07:12 AM EST, 11/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity investors will be mostly focused this week on the presidential election while remaining vigilant about a cut in interest rates from the Federal Reserve and more corporate earnings.

* Tuesday's US election and Thursday's concentration of central bank decisions -- in the US and overseas -- will be the biggest days of the week, according to a note from Scotiabank late Friday.

* "Which effect on markets comes first is unclear given we just don't know when the US election results will be available, let alone who will win the Presidency and both chambers, and how campaign rhetoric may translate into policy over time," Derek Holt, head of capital market economics at Scotiabank, said in the note.

* The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee will, in all probability, cut the target rate by another 25 basis points. "Consensus is almost unanimous, especially if we home in on expectations across US primary dealers including ourselves," Holt said.

* On the corporate front, quarterly earnings results due this week include those from Arm Holdings ( ARM ) , Qualcomm ( QCOM ) , NXPI Semiconductors (NXPI), Airbnb ( ABNB ) , CVS Health (CVS), Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) , and Wynn Resorts ( WYNN ) .

* With almost 70% of the S&P 500 having reported Q3 results, the index earnings have increased by 5.7% year-over-year, ahead of the FactSet consensus estimate as of Sept. 30 for an increase of 4%, according to a note from D. A. Davidson late Friday.

* The Information Technology sector in the S&P 500 index underperformed expectations by the most, with earnings down 5.3% compared with estimates for 15% growth, as per the note. It said 54% of companies have so far reported earnings.

* FactSet's S&P 500 Q3 blended earnings estimate, which combines reported results with the remaining consensus estimates, currently implies an increase of 5% year-over-year, up from more than 3.5% last week, indicating that remaining results will likely "moderate slightly higher from here," the D. A. Davidson note added.