Investors are hoping for a less hawkish Fed after last week's US inflation data and the crypto chaos continues.
A look at the week ahead.
- US Data
Last week the markets saw a softer than expected inflation data which brought around hopes that the Federal Reserve could slow down with the rate hikes. The Fed has impledged 4 consecutive 75 basis points increase to date.
Wednesday will show retail sales figures for October, they should provide insight into how consumers are coping ahead of the big holiday shopping season.
Market analysts are estimating an increase of 0.8%. Stronger-than-expected results could prompt the Fed to do more work in order to cool the economy
- Stocks
The Nasdaq gained 8.1% in the prior week, its biggest weekly percentage gain since March. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones rose 4.15% and the S&P 500 added 5.9% on the hopes for a less hawkish Fed.
However, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to be convinced by a single inflation print. Past rebounds due to Fed-related optimism, have been crushed this year after pushbacks from policymakers.
And the fears of an economic decline crumbled equities, the S&P 500 remains down around 16% for the year to date.
- Crypto Chaos
Worries about the sustainability of the crypto markets are continuing to rise as the crypto exchange FTX collapsed last week.
On Friday, FTX filed for bankruptcy and on Saturday it was involved in more chaos. The exchange announced it had detected unapproved access and specialists said hundreds of millions of dollars of assets had been moved from the platform.
On Sunday, rival exchange Binance closed the acceptance of deposits of FTX’s FTT token on its platform and insisted other exchanges follow.
- UK Budget
Jeremy Hunt, UK finance minister, is expected to announce the government's new fiscal plan on Thursday and investors will be spectating closely, especially after former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget.
Hunt has hinted that around £60 billion in spending cuts and tax increases will be implemented to fill the hole in public finances.
The UK is also set to release the latest data on retail sales, inflation and employment in the upcoming days.
- China Data
China is set to release October data for industrial production, retail sales, employment and investment on Tuesday with analysts estimating numbers to reflect the ongoing impact of its zero -Covid policy.
Latest data showed inflation slowing, new bank lending plunging, exports and imports contracting, and property sales in an extended downturn.
(Sources: investing.com, CNBC.com)
