The end of the business week comes to a more or less quiet finale, with only a few interesting releases today.
First off, it was Japan’s turn to report its latest inflation data. Inflation, core inflation, and inflation minus food and energy prices all met the forecasts, coming in at 0.1%, 0.1%, and -0.7%, respectively.
Furthermore, the United Kingdom published a slightly better than expected GfK consumer confidence index for November at -14.
In addition, the UK also delivered retail sales data for October. The reports with and without fuel both exceeded investors’ expectations. However, the public sector borrowing report was a disappointment.
A bit later today Canada will deliver its own retail sales and housing data.
Last but not least in the fundamental aspect, there will be speeches by several representatives of the Federal Reserve, as well as the European Central Bank, including President Lagarde.
The Fed’s Richard Clarida, who is among those who will speak today, is of special interest to investors, because he is regarded as the most dovish-minded Fed member. Yesterday the markets saw Williams turn from dovish to hawkish due to the recent spikes in inflation, so it will be interesting to see if the most dovish person in the Federal Reserve is also beginning to reconsider his position.
In other news, today the House of Representatives in the United States will vote on the Democrats’ $2 trillion spending bill.
Today US stock indices will open with a mixed bias, due to the uncertainty about the spending bill vote, trouble in Europe, and some important company announcements. As for the last category, it includes Apple, which is reportedly aiming to produce a self-driving car within the next four years, and gaming giant Activision Blizzard, where the CEO is facing internal pressure to quit.
As for the troubling news from Europe, it has to do with the coronavirus pandemic. After struggling for a few days to curb infections with special restrictions on its unvaccinated population, Austria announced a full lockdown and an intention to vaccinate its entire adult population within the next three months.
Germany, which is currently seeing the worst Covid-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic, also spoke about the possibility of entering a winter lockdown.
