August has been A LOT so far, with wild swings thanks to trade war twists and recession warning signs. Investors, then, are going to be curious to hear what the Federal Reserve has to say this week...
US
There are two sizeable Fed moments lined up, both of which may come to impact how investors trade ahead of September’s meeting. First, on Wednesday, there are the meeting minutes from July, the month that saw the central bank cut interest rates for the first time in over a decade.
Then, starting on August 22nd is the Jackson Hole Symposium, aptly titled ‘Challenges for Monetary Policy, an event that could be a hotbed of sound bites and market-shifting comments on what exactly Jerome Powell and the rest of FOMC should do next.
Of course, jogging alongside the Fed for investors’ attention is the US-China trade war. The month's hostile escalation, and then slight pullback by America and semi-conciliatory comments from Beijing, has played havoc with the markets, a trend that could easily continue this week.
Beyond that, it’s not that interesting a week from a data-perspective. Existing home sales arrive on Wednesday, the flash manufacturing and services PMIs on Thursday and the new home sales on Friday.
UK
Bar some unforeseen Brexit-news, the FTSE et al. could find itself moving in line with the rest of the markets this week. Its economic calendar is pretty dry, with the CBI industrial order expectations on Tuesday, public sector net borrowing on Wednesday, and CBI realized sales on Thursday.
As for corporate updates, there’s Persimmon (LON:PSN) on Tuesday, Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), and CRH (LON:CRH) on Thursday, and Computacenter (LON:CCC) on Friday.
Eurozone
With the German economy contracting in the second quarter, and warnings signs everywhere that a recession is impending, a lot of attention is going to be paid to the week’s Eurozone data. Monday starts with the region-wide inflation readings, followed by the German PPI number on Tuesday.
Thursday’s the biggie, with not only the flash services and manufacturing PMIs – normally a good indication of just how bad the Eurozone is doing – but an insight into consumer confidence, and the latest ECB meeting minutes.
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