The economic calendar was not rich and major global stock market indices did not see any significant changes last week. In the US, the DJI rose by 1%, the S&P500 increased by 0.7% and the NASDAQ soared by 0.1%. In Europe, German DAX went up by 0.4%, while British FTSE250 fell by 0.6% and French CAC40 decreased by 0.5%. This time the publication of the minutes from the last FOMC’s meeting deserved the event of the week name. The document confirmed the hawkish attitude of the council. Moreover, many representatives of Fed in their commentaries said that the increase in the interest rates should be possible soon. However, the market seemed to be quite sceptical about the announcements of the FOMC.

Last week, the Fed was in the spotlight, especially public appearances of its representatives. These turned out to be hawkish. For instance, Janet Yellen said that too long delay in the interest rates raise might be imprudent. As a result, the probability of further hawkish decisions increased. Nevertheless, there was still considerable market uncertainty associated with the announcements of Donald Trump. Investors waited for a specific project on the reform of the tax system and the first decisions on the infrastructure spending. After all, the condition of the American economy was really solid, so the market expectations concerning the interest rates raise seemed to be justified. The situation of the labor market was extremely good and the CPI increased to the highest level for five years – 2.5% y/y.

The past week was quite calm in the financial markets. The economic calendar was not rich and Donald Trump, who had recently delivered investors a lot of excitements, this time did not shake the markets. However, it is worth paying attention to the publication of the European Sentix index. The result of 17.4 pts. was in line with the market consensus. Investors learnt the US University of Michigan consumer confidence index. It stood at 95.7 pts. vs 97.8 pts. expected. The market focused on a speech of the ECB president, which turned out to be quite dovish. Mario Draghi said that the fate of QE was not a foregone conclusion and the ECB may continue ultra – expansionary monetary policy.

Last week, the American stock indices saw slight changes – the NASDAQ and the S&P500 rose by 0.1%, while the DJI fell by 0.1%. Moreover, dollar once more depreciated against euro. It should be emphasized that the latest macroeconomic data readings from the US economy ought to have supported local assets. High values of the manufacturing ISM index (56 pts.) and the PMI (55 pts.) confirmed optimistic moods in that sector. In addition, the payrolls exceeded market expectations. Despite the growth in the unemployment rate to 4.8%, the non – farm payrolls stood at 227K vs 175K projected. Furthermore, there was a meeting of the FOMC last week. In line with market consensus, the council did not make any changes in the monetary policy.

Weekly comment MM Prime TFI  - January 30, 2016