Investing.com - In the week ahead, central bank policy decisions will dominate the economic calendar, in a week that is light on major economic reports.
In the U.S., three Federal Reserve officials are due to speak, and their comments will be closely watched ahead of the upcoming Fed meeting on December 13-14.
The U.S. is also to release data from the ISM on service sector activity, as well as a report on consumer sentiment.
Investing.com has compiled a list of the five biggest events on the economic calendar that are most likely to affect the markets.
1. European Central Bank meeting
The ECB is to hold its final monetary policy meeting of 2016 on Thursday.
Analysts are not expecting to see any further changes to policy, but the banks post-policy meeting press conference with President Mario Draghi will be closely watched for indications that the ECB is considering extending its bond purchasing program beyond March of next year.
2. New York Fed head William Dudley to speak
NY Fed President William Dudley is to speak about the macroeconomic outlook on Monday in New York.
This speech is to be followed by speeches from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and St. Louis Fed head James Bullard.
Market watchers will be paying close attention ahead of the Fed’s keenly anticipated policy announcement following its December 13-14th meeting.
3. U.S. non-manufacturing data
The Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its non-manufacturing PMI for November at 1000AM ET (1500GMT) Monday.
The index is expected to tick up to 55.4 from October's 54.8.
Also to watch in the U.S. next week is Friday’s preliminary reading on consumer sentiment for December from the University of Michigan.
4. Bank of Canada meeting
The BoC is expected to hold rates steady at its meeting on Wednesday after data on Friday showing that the economy added 10,700 jobs in November and the jobless rate fell to 6.8%.
In October, the bank kept rates unchanged but said that it had actively considered cutting for the third time in two years.
5. Reserve Bank of Australia meeting
The RBA is expected to keep interest rates on hold at record lows of 1.5% at its meeting on Tuesday, despite recent mixed economic reports.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s data on third quarter growth is expected to show that the rate of growth slowed slightly.
Gross domestic product is expected to have grown by 0.3% in the three months to September, after expanding by 0.5% during the second quarter. Annual growth is expected to come in at 2.5%, down from 3.3% in the second quarter.
Stay up-to-date on all of this week's economic events by visiting: http://www.investing.com/economic-calendar/