Week ahead: What are the markets watching this week?
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The first full week of February will deliver a quieter tone compared to last week. Monday’s ISM Services PMI for January is the main macro driver in focus for the US, while in Asia Pac, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) rate decision takes to the front on Tuesday. Last week’s stage was set exclusively for the Fed, and the primary message was to forget March. While the FOMC left the target rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%, it opened the door to rate cuts but the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell almost explicitly pushed back against March’s policy meeting, in line with Futures market pricing (24% probability priced in as of writing). Meanwhile, we have also seen a rate repricing for May’s policy meeting following Friday’s NFP beat, effectively nudging things in favour of a 25bp cut out to June (44bps) rather than May (22bps). Traders also welcomed a slew of US jobs data last week, including increased Job Openings (increased to a little more than 9 million in December 2023; however, with the upward revision of the previous number to 8.93 million, there was little change), weak ADP employment growth (107,000), as well as a -0.4-percentage point drop in the ISM Manufacturing PMI employment component from 47.5 to 47.1 and weekly jobless filings jumping to 224k from a slightly upwardly revised 215k print. On top of this, Friday witnessed a monster beat on the non-farm payrolls release; the US economy added 353,000 new jobs in January, surpassing all estimates and breezing through the 216,000 jump in December. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7%, and the year-on-year earnings surged to 4.5% (M/M rose 0.6%), smashing through all estimates and the prior (4.1%). This week’s ISM Services PMI print will essentially be the highlight event for the US, gracing the airwaves at 3:00 pm GMT. The market’s median estimate is for an increase to 52.0, up from 50.6 in December 2023 (the estimate range is between 53.0 and 50.6). As for the RBA, no fireworks are expected here. The central bank, scheduled for 3:30 am GMT, is widely expected to hold its Cash Rate unchanged at 4.35% on 6 February for a second consecutive meeting (a 12-year high).
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https://www.fxstreet.com/analysis/week-ahead-what-are-the-markets-watching-this-week-202402042241