There are a few highlights on the economic calendar today. The first one is the June employment change report out of the United Kingdom, which was slightly better than anticipated at 183K.
Data from the United Kingdom published today also revealed that the country is beginning to experience labor shortages in sectors of the economy typically filled by EU workers, who no longer have access to said jobs as a result of Brexit.
More importantly, the United States is publishing inflation data for August today. The official inflation rate met the forecast of 5.3% last month, but core inflation was disappointing at 4% against a forecast of 4.2%. Both of the MoM reports for the same were worse than expected.
As a result, this lower-than-anticipated inflation might translate into more caution from the Federal Reserve. Investors had hoped that in November the Fed might announce a tapering of asset purchases, but if inflation data lags behind the forecasts, this may not happen this year. That in turn will change the bias for the US dollar to a more bearish one.
In terms of the stock market, today US stock indices will make modest gains, recovering from some of the pessimism associated with the coronavirus pandemic and how it is still affecting the United States.
Apple will be of interest to investors today as the company will hold a launch event to unveil its new iPhone and Apple Watch lineups. These press events typically have a huge impact on the value of the tech giant’s shares because they offer a glimpse into how well Apple is interpreting the current tech trends and whether its new products will create new trends for the smartphone market in general.
In commodity markets, natural gas is also a notable asset. There appear to be supply shortages around the globe, which are pushing gas prices up.
The same supply concerns (and the approaching colder seasons in the Northern hemisphere) are also propelling oil prices higher. The Brent crude reached $74.09 today, while the WTI climbed to $70.97 per barrel.
