More Brexit fallout, US-China tensions and an ECB press conference are the highlights of the final full week of October.
UK
A quiet start to the week clears the stage for the pound to react to the outcome of the historic ‘super Saturday’, be it deal, no deal or extension. Given the gains the currency has seen this October it is sitting in a pretty precarious position.
Beyond Britain’s shifting political situation, the region really has nothing going on this week, meaning the FTSE especially could be susceptible to any non-Brexit macro-concerns.
There is, at least, a fairly busy corporate calendar. Reckitt Benckiser, Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Whitbread (LON:WTB) are on Tuesday, followed by Barclays (LON:BARC) and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) on Wednesday, AstraZeneca and RBS (LON:RBS) on Thursday, and WPP (LON:WPP) on Friday.
US
Given the recent discord between the US and China over the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, and the continued lack of substance regarding the ‘partial trade deal’ announced in mid-October, the markets are primed for any further developments, be they good or bad.
If that doesn’t materialise, US investors don’t have a whole lot to work with data-wise. Existing home sales arrive on Tuesday, with the durable goods orders and flash manufacturing and services PMIs on Thursday, and the revised UoM consumer sentiment numbers on Friday.
Earnings season also continues, with the most eye-catching names including McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) on Tuesday; Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Boeing (NYSE:BA), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Tesla on Wednesday; Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Visa (NYSE:V) and Twitter on Thursday; and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) on Friday.
Eurozone
Over in the Eurozone, the region sees its consumer confidence data on Wednesday, the flash services and manufacturing PMIs on Thursday, and the German Gfk consumer climate and Ifo business climate readings on Friday.
There’s also the small matter of the latest ECB monetary policy statement and press conference, following on from September’s stimulus announcement.
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