5 Key Developments To Follow Next Week

What are the 5 key developments to follow next week? What awaits the markets this week? Here are 5 things to follow:

1.Speeches of Jerome Powell and Janet Yellen

Powell and Yellen will speak before the Financial Services Committee of the House on Tuesday and before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. The health of the US economy and the importance of financial and monetary incentives will be evaluated at the point of getting out of the coronavirus epidemic. Also, other Fed officials to speak during the week will be Vice President Richard Clarida, Vice President Randal Quarles, Fed Administrator Lael Brainard, and New York Fed Chairman John Williams. Investors are preparing themselves with the idea that the first rate hike will be made sooner than the FED now anticipates.

2.BIS Summit

Prior to his testimony in Congress with Yellen, Powell will speak on Monday at the start of a four-day conference held by BIS on innovation in the digital age. Also, other global central bank leaders to speak at the summit include European Central Bank’s (ECB) Christine Lagarde, Bank of England (BoE) executive Andrew Bailey and Bank of Canada (BoC) executive Tiff Macklem.

3.US Economic Data Will Be Announced

On the data side, durable goods orders and personal income and expenditure reports will be the prominent data of the week with new and existing home sales figures. It is said that the personal income and expenditure figures, including the PCE deflator, which is the FED's preferred inflation measurement, will show weakness due to the impact of the severe winter storms on the economic activity in February. On the other hand, it is said that this decrease will be short-term. The country will share the latest revision to the fourth quarter GDP data of 2020. This data was last announced as 4.1 percent annually.

4.US Indices

While the indices continue to close at record highs, it is said that investors will likely continue to focus on the increase in bond yields that suppress stock prices. Optimism about the prospects for an economic recovery accelerated the move towards bank and other stocks and pushed the S&P 500 and Dow indices to record levels last week. But as the Treasury yields rose, valuations that seemed less attractive, the Nasdaq fell behind as technology and high-growth shares have lost their appeal in recent months.

5.Eurozone and UK Data

It was stated that March PMI data in the Eurozone will shed light on how the block economy will perform on the backdrop of chaotic vaccine distribution. The UK will share a lot of data, starting with business data on Tuesday. Economists predict a stable unemployment rate. While inflation data are expected to rise on Wednesday, PMI data is predicted to show a recovery in the dominant service sector on reopening optimism.     Source: Investing.com