So now for a Fed focus week on Wall Street.
It will be all about interest rates this week for markets – especially those in the US, A two meeting of the US central bank, new forecasts and the now usual post-meeting media conference of chair, Jerome Powell.
The expectation is some news on the timing (a hint perhaps?) for a rate cut later this year. No increase in the so-called dovishness of the post-meeting statement and Wall Street could stage another tantrum and sell off.
Friday saw a less than positive end to the week as the Wall Street sagged, but that didn’t stop a positive five days.
US shares rose 0.5%, Eurozone shares edged up 0.2%, Japanese shares rose 1.1%, Chinese shares rose 2.5% while Australian shares rose 1.7%.
Investors are awaiting the Fed’s meeting for signs of imminent easing, while the US-Iran confrontation in the Gulf of Oman added to uncertainty, sending oil prices higher.
The continuing worries over the US-China trade was emphasised by weak Chinese trade and other economic figures last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 17.16 points, or 0.07%, to 26,089.61, the S&P 500 lost 4.66 points, or 0.16%, to 2,886.98 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 40.47 points, or 0.52%, to 7,796.66.
All indexes gained for a second week in a row with the Dow up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq adding 0.7%.
MSCI’s broad gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.33%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.40%.
The still unexplained attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman lifted oil prices, although they posted a weekly loss on worries a sluggish world economy could hurt demand.
China’s industrial output growth came in well below expectations, slowing to a more than 17-year low (See separate story).
