Today the economic calendar is loaded with fundamental events, yet they are not expected to cause major upsets in the market situation.
First off, the Bank of Japan published the minutes from its most recent policy meeting, but those did not surprise investors with any new facts.
Then, China published its industrial profits report for August, which was almost 10% lower than the previous month’s. Again, this was not a surprise to the markets because the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in China this summer guaranteed that there will be a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
The People’s Bank of China injected more money into the economy today as it continues to fight the impact of the Chinese real estate market troubles. Its policy will likely remain highly accommodative in light of Evergrande Group’s default and the general slowdown caused by the pandemic.
In Europe, Germany’s and France’s consumer confidence reports for October and September, respectively, were both surprisingly better than expected.
Furthermore, today the European Central Bank is holding a forum on monetary policy. As a result, today we are going to hear from several pivotal figures within the ECB: President Lagarde, De Guindos, Schnabel, and Panetta.
In the United States there will be statements by several members of the Federal Reserve. More importantly, Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before Congress, together with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Though monetary policy remains of primary interest and is supposed to be the main topic of the testimony, Powell might also have to answer questions regarding Kaplan and Rosengren, two Federal Reserve governors who resigned after it became public knowledge they had traded stocks last year.
The September consumer confidence report is also expected in the United States today.
