In the next few days, investors are looking forward to a number of important risk events that are likely to change how the markets move and how traders and experts in the global markets see the future.
On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will meet to decide the US interest rate. The earnings of several US companies, led by Apple, will also be reported, and at the end of the week, important US job data will be released.
On Friday evening, the Office of Labor Statistics will release the rate of change in non-agricultural jobs, the unemployment rate, and the average hourly wage for April. This information is important because it shows how active the economy is because labor levels and unemployment give a picture of how consumers will spend in the future.
Tomorrow, the Reserve Bank of Australia will make a decision about interest rates. On Thursday, the ECB will also make a decision about interest rates, and then there will be a press meeting to answer questions about the European economy and future monetary policy.
The Manufacturing PMI for April is scheduled to be released by the Institute for Supply Management today during the US session.
This morning, during the Asian session, the indices climbed higher because Japanese reports were getting better. The consumer confidence index for April came out, and the result was better than expected and the previous reading. This made the market more optimistic about the general economic climate, while the Japanese factory PMI for April was about the same as expected.
In the energy sector, oil prices went down because Chinese indicators were not as good as expected. China is the biggest oil consumer in the world, and the purchasing managers’ index for the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors came out on Sunday with poor results that pointed to slower industry activity in April.
Now, a barrel of US West Texas oil trades at around $75.12, which is close to its lowest price since the beginning of April. Brent crude trades around $78.70.
