Market focus: Will Consumer Confidence Reflect Market Sentiment in the US? 

　　

What happened in the market last week?

• The Forex market experienced interesting movements last week due to central bank decisions.
• As expected, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 5%.
• Fed Chairman Powell indicated that the possibility of pausing rates was discussed, suggesting further rate hikes may not be as imminent as expected.
• Powell also stated that if needed, the Fed would hike rates further in the future, depending on economic performance.
• The Swiss National Bank also hiked interest rates from 1% to 1.5%, while the Bank of England hiked rates from 4% to 4.25% as expected.
• The market remained risk-free, with JPY ending the week as the strongest currency.

Last Week Market Pair Changes (All data is taken from the MT4 VT Markets)

The USD experienced a slight decrease in value last week due to market sentiment.

• Despite demand fears, USOUSD was set for a 3.5% weekly gain.
• Major US stock indexes closed higher on Friday, with DJ30 rising 0.97% and NAS100 increasing 1.59%cfor the week.
• EURUSD rose by 0.66%, while GBPUSD increased by 0.15%.
• Gold fell by 0.31% for the week.
• The USDX decreased by 0.54%.
• The USDJPY declined by 0.76% due to risk-off sentiment that dominated the week.

What to focus on this week?

As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2023, several countries are set to release their economic data for the week. The United States will be releasing their Consumer Confidence and Core PCE Price Index reports, while Australia and Germany will release their CPI reports. Additionally, Canada will be providing their GDP figures for the period. Analysts and investors eagerly anticipate these reports as they provide valuable insights into the current state of the economy and can have an impact on financial markets. 

Here are key events to watch out for:

CB Consumer Confidence | US (March 28)

The US CB Consumer Confidence fell to 102.9 in February 2023.

Analysts anticipate it to drop further to 101 in March 2023.

Consumer Price Index | Australia (March 29)

Australia’s monthly CPI rose 7.4% in January 2023, but still lower than the 8.4%  rise for the year to December 2022, signifying stubborn high inflation. 

For February 2023, analysts expect it to increase by 7.6%.

Prelim Consumer Price Index | Germany (March 30) 

The CPI in Germany increased 0.8% in February 2023, easing from a 1% rise in the previous month.

For March 2023, analysts expect the index to increase by 1.5%.

Gross Domestic Product  | Canada (March 31) 

Canada’s GDP shrank by 0.1% in December 2022, following a 0.1% increase in November 2022. Analysts expect the Canadian economy to increase by 0.3% in January 2023.

Core PCE Price Index | US (March 31)

Core PCE prices in the US, which exclude food and energy, jumped by 0.6% month-on-month in January 2023, the most since August, following an upwardly revised 0.4% increase in the previous month.

For February, analysts expect the index to increase by 0.6%.

Make informed decisions with the most up-to-date and reliable financial data, exclusively provided by vtmarkets.com.