Today the markets are dealing with a great amount of pessimism among investors, in large part caused by disappointing economic reports from all around the world.
Japan’s GDP for Q3 missed the targets and inflation remains extremely low, showing that the country is in a deep recession. China is also struggling, with industrial production, retail sales, and investment readings all failing to meet the forecasts, though there were recent improvements in trade and earnings data.
In Europe, the GDP for Q3 remained at 0.2% in line with forecasts, though year-on-year it improved at 1.2%. Germany stood out especially with a surprising GDP growth, saving the country from a state of recession. The economy of the United Kingdom, however, disappointed investors.
Due to the predominantly negative news, the stock markets are also registering losses today. Typically, the stock markets do better when global economic sentiment is more upbeat than it is right now.
Later in the day there will be a round of speeches by Federal Reserve officials. It is expected that they will all defend the current policy and dispel hopes of any more interest rate decreases.
Today we also expect crude oil data from OPEC and the United States, so oil prices may be volatile.
