Market Update

The past week for global equity markets was somewhat tumultuous. While they began on a positive note, they experienced a decline as the week progressed, primarily due to inflation figures and robust US economic indicators. This fueled speculations about the Fed potentially adopting a more hawkish stance in the upcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 22 September 2021.
Highlighting the positive streak was the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which posted an impressive 34.3. This result not only surpassed the anticipated figure of 17.9 by economists but also underscored the robustness of the US's economic rebound. Key contributors to this upbeat outcome were new orders and employment facets.
US retail sales data also exceeded forecasts, hinting that the surging Delta variant has not dampened consumer confidence significantly.
Contrastingly, the UK's retail sales results fell short of major predictions. Nonetheless, we feel this was somewhat foreseeable. The retail sales metric doesn't account for expenditures on activities like dining out. Given the recent easing of restrictions, pleasant weather, and the shift from mandatory to voluntary mask-wearing, we infer that this data primarily mirrors a transition in consumer expenditure from goods to services.
Peering into the upcoming week, alongside the Fed's monetary policy gathering and subsequent press briefing on Wednesday, both the BoJ and BoE have monetary policy discussions lined up.
Furthermore, the week will bring insights from US housing statistics, PMI figures from the US, UK, Eurozone, and Japan, and will conclude with the Canadian electoral results.