The Australian stock market looks set to receive a welcome boost this week on the back of strong leads from the US and European markets while a number of Australia's largest companies are also due to present their interim results.
Amongst the big names are Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH), which will start the ball rolling on Tuesday, followed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and biopharmaceutical giant CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) on Wednesday. Thursday is also set to be a huge day as mining heavyweight Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) take the stage, while gold miner Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) will be the biggest company to report on Friday.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) will also deliver a quarterly update on Tuesday, while National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) will do the same next week. Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) will not provide the market with an update this month.
According to AMP Capital, it is expected that we will see 13% earnings growth this financial year, which will be driven by 35% growth in resources' profits thanks to a lower Australian dollar and reduced capex.
Foolish takeaway
Strong results from the above stocks would act as a driver for the local market. So far in 2014, poor performances from the big four banks and other blue chips have acted as a drag on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) which has lost over 3% following on from last year's rally.
