The Middle East conflict sends oil and safe havens higher
Oil prices rose more than 4% in early Asia trade, with analysts warning of more volatility due to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
Oil prices
Oil prices rose more than 4% in early Asia trade, with analysts warning of more volatility due to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East.
US dollar
Unsurprisingly, investors are looking for safety, and gold has regained its safe-haven status. On Monday morning, the precious metal was up more than 1%. Last week, gold plunged as bond yields jumped against a firm USD.
The BRC retail sales
Investors will be attentive to a few macroeconomic indicators on both sides of the Atlantic. The GBP could react to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) retail sales monitor published at midnight tonight. the pace of retail sales growth, if expected to slow in September, to 2% after a 4.3% increase in August. On Thursday, the market forecasts a rebound in UK monthly gross domestic product (GDP) for the month of August after it dropped by 0.5% in July month-over-month (MoM) Monthly. Also on Thursday's agenda are industrial production and trade balance.
FOMC
Over in the US, producer price index and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes were released on Wednesday, before arguably the main macro event of the week: consumer price index. Investors expect the pace of Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth to slow to 3.6% year-over-year (YoY), after 3.7% the previous month. Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) is expected to fall to 4.1%, the lowest since September 2021.
US earnings
The US earnings season begins this week, providing the main driver of activity for the next month or so in equity markets. Starting on Tuesday with Pepsico. Investors may also be cautious of its balance sheet; at the end of its second quarter in 2023, PepsiCo had $37 billion of net debt, about six times its long-term average annual free cash flow.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines reported its third-quarter results on Thursday. Investors will be paying attention to engine recalls after RTX Corporation announced that 600–700 Pratt & Whitney engines will be recalled from this year through 2026, leading to an average of 350 aircraft being grounded every year.
JPMorgan
On Friday, the banking sector will grab most of the attention. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Well Fargo are due to report quarterly earnings. US banks are expected to post lower profits in Q3, apart from one: JPMorgan.
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