Rest up, because next week is going to be huge for stock markets

Whatever you do, get some rest because next week promises a doozy of a lineup. On Thursday, the European Central Bank is meeting and President Mario Draghi and the gang have all but promised to further ease monetary policy. That’s keeping the euro pinned down. Is the market ready for a surprise here? It does draw a straight line to our call of the day, which says there’s another stock market you should think about while Wall Street analysts try to muster enthusiasm for the S&P 500 next year.

On Friday, it’s OPEC’s turn to meet, and the cartel has got everyone on pins and needles about whether it will hold firm to current supply levels in the face of weak oil prices. As well, Friday brings the monthly jobs report, including gains in nonfarm payrolls, the last big piece of data before the Fed meeting in December. Like this column said the other day, it’s worth considering the possibilities for these events if all doesn’t go to plan.

As for our chart of the day, a crystal-ball gaze at what the year’s best-performing stocks could offer investors in the years ahead. Happy not-getting-crushed-in-the-sales day.
Key market gauges

If a negative pull will come from anywhere on a shortened day for Wall Street, look to China. But so far, things aren’t looking that bad. Dow YMZ5, -0.13% and S&P 500 ESZ5, +0.01% futures are flat-lining, and Europe SXXP, -0.05% stocks shook off some losses. But it was bad for the Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, -5.48% which closed down 5.5%, its worst fall in three months, on news Citic Securities and Guosen Securities are being investigated.

Expect a decent return from Europe next year as well, says Societe General in its 2016 outlook released earlier this week. The bank joined Goldman Sachs with a call for a flat S&P 500 SPX, -0.01% SPX, -0.01% in 2016. But the Eurostoxx 50 SX5E, -0.06% up nearly 12% this year, should rise more than 15% by the end of 2016, says SocGen strategist Roland Kaloyan,

“We expect eurozone earnings growth to accelerate. The index would benefit from further recovery in the euro area and more quantitative easing from the ECB,” says Kaloyan. He likes French and Italian equity markets, which should be supported by economic reforms, but has gone neutral on U.K. equities owing to the debate over whether the nation should leave the European Union. A referendum over Brexit has been promised before the end of 2017.