© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Israeli soldiers gather on and around a tank near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel October 15, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File PhotoA nervous watch has gripped markets as Israel prepares to roll troops into Gaza and worries mount that the conflict with Hamas will spill across borders. Iran in particular has warned of a regional escalation if attacks on Palestinians continue.
Currencies though were mostly calm, with the eye-catching exception of the Israeli shekel, which slumped to its lowest in more than eight years. The ECB's next decision is due on Oct. 26, and there is plenty of room for more hawkish market pricing on interest rates, since investors had become convinced that hikes were done and a first rate cut would be coming by the middle of next year.
It will be a busy week for BoE rhetoric as well, starting with the central bank's chief economist, Huw Pill, on Monday. There's lots of important British data, with house prices later today, jobs and wage figures on Tuesday, and CPI on Wednesday.Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Economic Club of New York this Thursday, just before the start of the central bank's blackout period, is probably the most anticipated bit of central bank speak for the week.