Global markets focus on busy agenda this week

ISTANBUL

After closing with mixed figures last week, global markets will focus on a busy data agenda in the week ahead, including decisions on interest rates in the US and UK.

On Monday, markets will follow the releases of purchasing managers index (PMI) data throughout the world.

Last week, while firms' positive third-quarter results boosted the risk appetite, concerns related to rising COVID-19 cases, below-expected economic growth figures in the US, and a 13-year high in EU inflation data served to dampen it.

The European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates and the total size of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme last week.

Christine Lagarde, the governor of the ECB, said the inflation rate would rise much sooner, but fall next year.

According to analysts' comments, the main theme of risks under "high inflation," "insufficient recovery," and the "future of monetary policies" for the post COVID-19 era has not changed.

In this context, the results of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting scheduled for Wednesday, with Chair Jerome Powell's direction to be important.

The Bank of England (BoE) is expected to hike its policy rate by 15 basis points to 0.25 percent at its meeting to be held on Thursday.

Various figures to be released this week, especially non-agricultural employment in the US, employment in the EU, and industrial production in Germany, will be closely followed and shpe future expectations.

Last week, the 10-year US bond yield rate dropped to 1.52% from 1.67%.

The prices of one ounce of gold and one barrel of Brent oil closed the last week at $1,783.4 and $83.5, respectively, down 0.5% and 1.7%.

As of the end of the previous week, while US and Asian markets posted mixed figures, European markets saw strong increases.

With newly released positive PMI results in Japan and China, Asian markets started the week in positive territory.

In Turkey, the BIST 100 index closed the week at 1,522.04 points, while the USD/TRY exchange rate completed the week at 9.60.

Sahap Kavcioglu, the Turkish Central Bank governor, released a quarterly inflation report last week showing that the inflation rate would reach 18.4% at the end of this year and 11.8% next year.

Analysts will follow inflation, exports, and treasury cash balance figures in the domestic market and the interest decisions of Fed and the BoE on the foreign side.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun​​​​​​​