Business Calendar: dovish Japan, frozen Europe
STORY: From a stubbornly dovish Bank of Japan, to Europe feeling the chill, these are the stories to watch out for in business and finance over the coming days.
Might the Bank of Japan finally hike rates?
A surprise jump in inflation has fuelled talk that it could.
But with economic recovery still fragile, most analysts bet the BOJ will stay unmoved at Tuesday’s policy meeting.
Europe’s cold snap will raise the risk of blackouts - and test the region’s resolve to save energy.
Nuclear outages in France have added to jitters over a possible energy crunch.
That leaves gas traders keeping a close eye on the weather forecast.
With inflation coming off the boil, can the U.S. ward off recession?
Economy-watchers get fresh clues in the coming days with data on housing starts and home sales.
Consumer confidence numbers are due too, after sliding to a fourth-month low in November.
Interest rates are in focus in emerging markets as well.
Central banks in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Indonesia and Egypt all have decisions to make.
The big outlier though is Turkey, where rates have been cut ahead of next year’s election.
And as one year ends, traders will be making their forecasts for 2023.
The consensus bet is another bad year for equities.
Investors surveyed by Deutsche Bank predict the S&P 500 will fall again.
But most economists do at least expect inflation to cool off.
