Simply because today is the last day of the week, doesn’t mean that investors will have an uneventful day. On the contrary, many key reports will be released today, making for another exciting day on the financial markets.
Today we expect a key retail sales report from the United States that will show what state the American economy is currently in. Despite mixed inflation data reports, the Federal Reserve yesterday confirmed that it will likely not touch interest rates in the US anymore for the foreseeable future. The central bank seems to be confident about the health of the US economy, as well as the possible relief that a trade deal with China might bring soon.
Oil is another instrument to watch out for today. Recently, OPEC published a forecast that the United States will slow down its oil extraction activities, which helped boost the long-term prospects of oil prices increasing. However, this week we expect to see a record high in the oil supplies of the United States, which may dampen this prospect in the short term.
There is also quite a bit of excitement on the Hong Kong stock exchange due to Chinese giant Alibaba releasing more shares for sale there. The finance sector of Hong Kong has been suffering due to the ongoing pro-democracy protests in the city, but the Alibaba shares will likely draw a lot of interest from investors.