Investors Poised for a Big Week Ahead
Investors are preparing for a busy week ahead after the US Thanksgiving Day led to a relatively quiet and uninspired trading day on Friday. The major US stock indices experienced a mixed day in holiday-shortened trading, the Dow finishing up 0.33%, the S&P just above flat at 0.06% up and the Nasdaq dropping 0.11%. The dollar dropped across the board losing 0.4% on the index as traders continue to look at the end of rate hikes from the Fed, although there is a plethora of Fed speakers this week so expect volatility around them. Oil dropped on Friday ahead of the big OPEC+ meeting this week and Gold edged higher in line with the general dollar move.
All Eyes on Central Bankers this Week
Fed members are out in force this week speaking at various events across the country and given the volatility we have seen across markets on increased bets that the FOMC have finished hiking in this cycle, then expect traders to be hanging on every word. This is especially true at the end of the week when we hear from the Fed Chair Jerome Powell. There is a strong feeling that most members will stick to the party line and that it is too early to call an end to hikes with inflation still sitting above the target of 2%. There are some fears that the market may have got a bit ahead of itself, but anything leaning to a dovish outlook will be ceased upon by investors. Conversely, strong messages that they need to see more data to push us in that direction we could see some sharp moves in the other direction.
Quiet Calendar Day to Start the Week
It looks set to be a quiet start to the week with a dearth of tier 1 data scheduled for the first trading day and with it coming on the back of a moribund Friday trading session, traders are expecting to see rangebound conditions. There is nothing of note scheduled in the Asian session, however, we do hear from ECB President Christine Lagarde later in the day when she testifies before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in the European Parliament, which could see some moves for Euro traders. New Homes Sales data is due out in the US later in the day but traders are really expecting the big moves to come later in the week.
