Markets worldwide dialled down their risk appetite ahead of some big central bank meetings over the next couple of days.
Investors look through the current high inflation rates worldwide to focus on possible interest rate cuts later this year.
It’s set to be an action-packed week as three big central banks hold policy meetings.
While the Fed is expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, the ECB and the BoE are expected to hike rates by 50 basis points.
The Federal Reserve began to slow interest-rate increases in December and is likely to step down to a quarter-point rise to assess the impact of their increases.
The Bank of England announces its latest interest-rate decision as the U.K. combats high inflation. The central bank raised rates by a half-percentage point in December, signalling caution about higher rates.
The ECB raised interest rates by a half-percentage point in December following four consecutive increases of 0.75 percentage points and announced plans to reduce its multitrillion-dollar bond holdings starting in March.
Big central bank meetings and policy decisions – What else
The economic calendar also features a report on job openings for December on Wednesday, along with ISM PMIs.
The Eurozone publishes CPI data for December also on Wednesday.
Friday’s U.S. jobs report will also be in the spotlight, and markets in China are re-opening after the Lunar New Year holidays.
Friday’s employment report may show that the economy created 185,000 jobs in January, slowing from 223,000 the previous month. At the same time, experts expect the unemployment rate to tick up to 3.6%. Experts expect average hourly earnings to slow slightly from the previous month.
For more market events, watch our Economic Calendar.
Did you spot your trading opportunity?
START TRADING