PANews, March 28th - The past week was another dominated by the Middle East situation. The significant uncertainty surrounding whether an agreement can be reached between the US, Israel, and Iran kept markets on edge, forcing investors to closely monitor every statement from US President Trump. Currently, the market's focus is on whether major central banks will pull the trigger on interest rate hikes in April due to soaring energy prices caused by the Middle East conflict. Although the market is pricing in a very high probability of a rate hike, it may be too early to draw conclusions. Here are the key points the market will be focusing on in the coming week:
At 22:30 on Monday, the Dallas Fed Business Activity Index for March will be released.
At 4:00 AM on Tuesday, New York Federal Reserve President Williams will deliver a speech;
At 22:00 on Tuesday, the US February JOLTs Job Openings and the US March Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index will be released.
Wednesday, 20:15, US March ADP employment figures;
At 21:05 on Wednesday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President Musaleem will speak on the U.S. economy and monetary policy.
At 21:45 on Wednesday, the final reading of the US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for March will be released.
At 23:00 on Wednesday, Dallas Fed President Logan, a 2026 FOMC voting member, will deliver a speech.
Thursday, 7:30 PM: US Challenger job cuts for March;
At 20:30 on Thursday, the US initial jobless claims for the week ending March 28 and the US trade balance for February will be released.
Finance ministers from the G7 countries met on Thursday.
At 20:30 on Friday, the following data will be released: US March unemployment rate, US March seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls, US March average hourly earnings year-on-year rate, and US March average hourly earnings month-on-month rate.
At 21:45 on Friday, the final reading of the US S&P Global Services PMI for March will be released.
On the data front, the main focus will be on the US non-farm payrolls figures. Most Federal Reserve policymakers continue to downplay the risks facing the labor market while emphasizing inflation risks. The market has now accepted the Fed's hawkish stance.
