U.S. inflation data, a European Central Bank meeting, a look at the health of China’s economy and a UK budget could now provide direction for markets unsettled by a slide in bank stocks.Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell appears on a screen on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange during a news conference following a Fed rate announcement on Feb. 1.U.S.
Economists polled by Reuters expect consumer prices to have risen by 0.4% in February, after rising 0.5% in January.Li Qiang attends a session of China's National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, March 10.Hints on whether China’s new 5% growth target is as modest as many suggest come on Wednesday with the release of the first retail and factory data of the year, two days after the week-long National People’s Congress wraps up.
Li’s task now will be guiding China’s post-pandemic economic re-emergence. China grew just 3% in 2022, its worst showing in decades. Markets, ready and willing to take a punt on how high rates will go, have rapidly positioned for a move towards 4% by year-end. Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas reckon this is where rates will peak.
Emerging markets face their demons as traders mull whether the Fed will lift rates as high as 6%, a level many see as testing the pain threshold for developing economies.