- Interest rates are expected to remain unchanged at the first FOMC meeting in 2024
- The latest US NFP report forecasts are gloomy
- Will the BOE signal like the ECB last week?
The main focus of the market this week will be on an important event and will be the driver of the market movement for the first half of 2024, which is the FOMC meeting.
The question regarding the monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve (Fed) is still hovering in the market whether the existing monetary policy will still be maintained or there is a signal for the central bank to start lowering interest rates in the near term.
If previously the expectation for the interest rate to be lowered was as early as March, but now the expectation is that the first rate reduction will be done in May with a forecast for 5 rate reductions throughout this year.
In the last session of last week, the personal expenditure index data of United States (US) consumers has invited preliminary speculation ahead of this week's FOMC meeting.
The reading of the PCE index data remained at 2.6% on an annual basis in December, while core data showed a decline to 2.9% from 3.2% in November.
The US dollar was seen showing a slight decline at the end of last week's trading with investors being more wary of the uncertainty that will plague trading throughout the week.
In addition to the FOMC, US NFP employment data will also grace the trading calendar this week to guide the market in assessing the current health of the country's labor sector.
The Euro lost heavily last week following the European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting which saw interest rates maintained at 4.5%.
President Christine Lagarde said it was too early to talk about interest rate cuts.
The Bank of England (BOE) is set to hold its policy meeting this week with the Fed, with interest rates expected to be kept at previous levels.
The Pound currency will react to the central bank's follow-up statement regarding further policy direction.
Commodity market developments, crude oil prices for both WTI and Brent benchmarks were reported to have surged last week with each reaching their highest price level since the end of November last year.
However, the positive mood did not apply to gold trading which failed to continue strengthening its value at the close of last week.
The price of gold traded flat below the $2,030 zone after the price experienced a fall again last Wednesday, but still remained above the $2,010 level.
