May 8, 2024

Escalation in Ukraine war weighs on markets

Escalation in Ukraine war weighs on markets

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Investors are worried about an escalation in the Ukraine war as Russian bombings across Ukraine fuel nervousness.

Markets are watching developments in Ukraine, where the war is escalating. Multiple explosions hit the centre of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Monday.

Investors braced for high inflation data due out Thursday and the start of corporate earnings season on Friday.

Four of the biggest U.S. banks are due to report earnings on Friday. Market experts expect large lenders to post lower profits as the economy slows.

U.S. investors are also anxious about rising interest rates and signs of economic weakness.

U.S. stock markets tumbled on Friday as stronger-than-expected jobs report raised the likelihood of more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve.

Minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting will be published this week. Fed officials approved the third consecutive 0.75-percentage-point increase in the benchmark federal-funds rate as it tries to bring down high inflation. The minutes could provide additional details about the decisions’ discussions and clues about future monetary policy.

The Bank of England acted again to stem a sharp sell-off in Britain’s government bond market. BoE announced the purchase of inflation-linked debt until the end of this week.

What else apart from Escalation in the Ukraine war?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank kicked off their 2022 annual meetings in Washington on Monday.

The busy agenda of the meetings include the pandemic fallout, the war in Ukraine, inflation, a weakened Chinese economy, and climate change.

Meeting minutes from the FOMC’s latest policy meeting, held September 20-21, will be released Wednesday. In addition, September Producer Price Index data also comes on Wednesday.

The Labor Department releases its consumer-price index for September on Thursday, as well as the Initial jobless claims in the week ended Oct. 8.

On Friday, the Commerce Department releases September retail sales and manufacturers’ and trade inventories for August. Eurozone watchers will closely monitor industrial production and German inflation data.

Key diary events

Tuesday 11 October
United Kingdom BRC Retail Sales Monitor (Sep),
Unemployment Change (Aug)

Wednesday 12 October
United Kingdom GDP (Aug), Balance of Trade (Aug), Industrial Production (Aug), Construction Output (Aug),
Eurozone Industrial Production (Aug)
United States MBA Mortgage Applications (Oct), PPI (Sep), FOMC minutes

Thursday 13 October
Australia Consumer Inflation Expectations (Oct)
Germany Inflation (Sep), Current Account (Aug)
United States Inflation (Sep), Jobless claims (Oct)

Friday 14 October
China Inflation (Sep), Balance of Trade (Sep)
Eurozone Balance of Trade (Aug)
United States Retail Sales (Sep),

For more economic events, watch our Economic Calendar.

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