Key events in developed markets

Financial markets risk getting themselves into a brutal doom loop with plummeting bond yields and tumbling equities feeding each other despite the US economy continuing to post decent numbers. Global growth worries and ongoing trade tensions are at the root of this so we will be focusing more on newsflow surrounding these areas while also looking to see how the Federal Reserve may respond. After all the US data calendar is light with existing home sales and new homes sales (both supported by firm consumer confidence, rising wages and falling mortgage rates) the main releases to follow.

We will also get the minutes to the July FOMC meeting where the Federal Reserve cut the policy rate by 25bp, so we may hear more about risk scenarios from them, but it will be the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole (August 22-24) that will be the main draw. Numerous Fed officials will speak, including Jerome Powell, so we will get an update from him on how he sees the threats facing the economy and whether the Fed could be tempted to move more swiftly and aggressively to head off a potential economic downturn.