This week, investors are waiting for FOMC minutes to understand the central bank's next steps

The US stock market rose on Friday, but the week closed in the red zone. Last week, the Fed officials said that the inflation growth would be temporary and promised not to change the monetary policy. But many experts believe the high inflation rate will have a significant impact on speeding up the recovery from the pandemic.

By the end of last week, the European indices closed with the increase. German DAX (+1.43% on Friday) and British FTSE 100 (+1.15% on Friday) became the growth leaders. On the one hand, on the back of rising global inflation and the fact that Eurobonds are at their maximum price levels, many analysts expect a slowdown in the growth of indices. But on the other hand, Europe has started to decrease the quarantine restrictions and reopen the economy, which will improve economic performance.

Macroeconomic data was released for China today. The reports were worse than expected. Industrial production has slowed down due to problems with the supply of goods. The retail sales rose but below the expectations of analysts. And the unemployment rate was down to 5.1% from 5.3% in March.

Colonial Pipeline fully recovered from the last week's attack. But the oil price hasn't changed much, as investors remain concerned about restrictions in Asian countries due to the rising Covid-19 cases.

Asia-Pacific stock indices are mixed. A lot of economic data is expected this week in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, so volatility will increase sharply by the middle of the week.

Main market quotes:

S&P 500 (F) 4,173.85 +61.35 (+1.49%)

Dow Jones 34,382.13 +360.68 (+1.06%)

DAX 15,416.64 +216.96 (+1.43%)

FTSE 100 7,043.61 +80.28 (+1.15%)

USD Index 90.30 -0.45 (-0.49%)

• – China Retail Sales (m/m) at 05:00 (GMT+3);
• – China Industrial Production (m/m) at 05:00 (GMT+3);
• – China Unemployment Rate (m/m) at 05:00 (GMT+3).

by JMarkets, 2021.05.17

This article reflects a personal opinion and should not be interpreted as an investment advice, and/or offer, and/or a persistent request for carrying out financial transactions, and/or a guarantee, and/or a forecast of future events.