The UK’s Brexit drama, eternally, rumbles on, while the Federal Reserve prepares for a potential rate cut.
UK: Plenty for the Pound to focus on
‘Do or die’ Britain is meant to leave the EU on Thursday 31st October. Only, we probably, most likely won’t.
Instead, Boris Johnson is set to table a motion on Monday requesting a general election on December 12th, one that will almost certainly be struck down by Labour. Once that is out of the way, the EU will then announce the new Brexit deadline. Brussels was meant to reveal the data last Friday, only for the latest Westminster mess to cause them to hold off for a few more days.
Plenty, then, for the pound to focus on. As the FTSE, alongside the latest round of corporate releases, and its antagonistic relationship with sterling, there’s a series of Chinese PMIs across Thursday and Friday that could disproportionally impact the index. On top of that, the UK’s own manufacturing figures are released at the end of the week.
UK: Stocks to watch
HSBC announces its Q3 results on Monday, BP on Tuesday, Glaxo SmithKline and Standard Chartered on Wednesday and a busy day on Thursday which sees BT Group, British Airways owner, International Consolidated Airlines and Lloyds Banking Group among others.
US: A rate cut on the cards?
The focus in the US this week is Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting. After a split-decision rate cut back in September, the central bank might be at it again this week. The CME’s FedWatch tool has the chances of a cut at 93.5%, despite the suggestion last month that there were no more on their way in 2019 and 2020.
Beyond that, there’s the consumer confidence data on Tuesday, the advance GDP readings on Wednesday, the core PCE price index number on Thursday and the November-opening pairing of the latest nonfarm jobs reports and manufacturing PMIs.
US: Stocks to watch
It’s also a big week for earnings. Alphabet reports on Monday, followed by General Motors on Tuesday and Starbucks, General Electric, Facebook AND Apple on Wednesday.
Eurozone: Global events to set the tone
It could be one of those weeks where the Eurozone follows the mood set elsewhere. Wednesday sees the French GDP and German inflation readings; Thursday the region-wide CPI data; and Friday bank holidays for France and Italy.
- 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.
