The latter half of the week is where the juicy stuff is at, including August’s Bank of England meeting and the latest nonfarm number out of the United States.
US: Uncertainty surrounding jobs
A new month means only one thing – it’s time for a fresh nonfarm jobs report. The last couple of months have seen the US economy try and claw back some of the jobs lost in April, with 2.5 million surprisingly created in May, and 4.8 million in June. However, July has been a rough one in the US, with multiple states having to re-enter various forms of lockdown.
How will that come to impact July’s nonfarm reading? Will jobs still have been created, or are investors facing another negative number?
The state of the unemployment rate, which last time out was 11.1%, and the wage growth, which fell by 1.2% in June, will also be worth a watch.
Beyond Friday’s main event, there are the manufacturing PMIs on Monday, factory orders on Tuesday, the services PMIs and ADP nonfarm data on Wednesday and the usual dreaded jobless claims reading on Thursday.
Elsewhere, things seem to have gone quiet on the US-China front, though another flare-up is a persistent threat, while Donald Trump has also been tweeting about delaying November’s election, so there is also that to worry about.
All this, as well as the now permanent hum of covid-10 anxiety.
UK: Bank of England to discuss interest rates
Like the ECB and Federal Reserve, the Bank of England may well still be in wait and see mode during its August meeting on Thursday, especially since in terms of interest rates the only direction is negative, something governor Andrew Bailey is reticent to do.
Beyond the latest BoE action, there is July’s manufacturing PMI on Monday, the services PMI on Tuesday, construction PMI on Thursday and Halifax HPI on Friday.
UK: Stocks to Watch
As for the UK’s corporate calendar, Diageo and Direct Line report on Tuesday; PageGroup on Wednesday; Mondi, Evraz, Hammerson and Serco on Thursday; Hargreaves Lansdown, Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Rightmove on Friday.
Eurozone: Economic data
The Eurozone is fairly flush with data this week, from the manufacturing PMIs on Monday to the services PMIs on Wednesday, and the German factory orders and Italian industrial production numbers on Thursday. Friday then wraps things up with the German and French industrial production and trade balance readings.
- Visit Spreadex website
This article is brought to you in association with Spreadex. All opinions expressed in this article are from the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Armchair Trader. You can find out more about Spreadex products and services here, or find more articles from Connor Campbell here.