Weekly Forecast: A Look at the Most Important Events of the Week

Last week was a volatile one for global markets. The focus among investors was mostly about US stocks as most of the large firms released their quarterly data. On Thursday, important firms liked Google and Amazon released their earnings that disappointed the market. This led to a sharp decline in the markets on Friday. At the same time, the volatility index jumped close to the highest level in more than six months. This new week will be consequential for the market as well. The following may be the most important things that will happen during the week.

Apple Earnings

This week, the earning season will continue and traders may continue to focus on Apple, the biggest company in the world by market cap. It is valued at more than $1 trillion. On Thursday, it will announce results for the third quarter. This is a quarter when the company launched three iPhones including the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, and iPhone Xr. Traders will focus on whether the company will be able to improve its sales and earnings as the trade war with China continues. Other than Apple, the following companies will also release their earnings.

US Employment Numbers

This week will be important for US employment numbers. Traders follow closely these numbers because they give an indication about the strength of the US economy. On Wednesday, ADP will release its reading of the employment numbers. These may expected to show that the US added 190K jobs, which will be lower than the previous month’s 230K. This will be followed by the official government jobs numbers. These too are expected to show that the economy added 191K jobs, higher than the disappointing 134K released a month ago. The unemployment rate may to move up to 3.8%.

Bank of England

On Thursday, the Bank of England will release the interest rates decision. After raising interest rates one time this year, the bank is not expected to have another hike this year. This is mostly because of the previous disappointing inflation numbers and the uncertainty revolving around Brexit. Traders may however pay a close attention to the statement from the BOE about its plans for 2019. They may also pay close attention to the BOE inflation report.

Bank of Japan

Bank of Japan is at a difficult position. While the Japanese economy is growing and the unemployment rate is low, the economy has failed to generate inflation. This is mostly because Japanese prefer saving than engaging in shopping with their disposable income. They are also known to be extremely workaholics. In addition, the country is mostly made up of older people. Therefore, the bank may not increase interest rates. It may also continue with its forward guidance about maintaining the low interest rates for longer.

Crude Oil Inventories

In the past few weeks, the crude oil industry has been very important. This is mostly because of the ongoing geopolitical issues between the United States and Saudi Arabia. It has also been focused on because of the rising crude oil inventories. The numbers from EIA and API have shown that the inventories have continued to rise. Finally, there is a focus on the oil market as the US sanctions on Iran near. Just last week, China announced that it had directed a number of its firms to end their purchases of Iranian oil.

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