The economic calendar was very rich last week. Investors paid special attention to the data from the American economy. This was very important due to the investors’ expectations concerning the interest rate raise by Fed. This time readings did not fail. The publications of the Conference Board index (104.1 pts.), the Richmond Fed index (-8 pts.) and the Chicago PMI (54.2 pts.) turned out to be higher than projections. In addition, the final reading of the annualized GDP growth for the second quarter stood at 1.4% vs 1.3% expected. Meanwhile, there were releases of the confidence indices for the Eurozone. They surprised investors positively. It is worth paying attention to the unemployment rate in the Euroland as well.

In the first part of the past week investors were looking forward to the Fed’s decision on the interest rates. Most of them did not expect any hawkish changes because plenty of economic data readings from the US had failed. However, the earlier appreciation of dollar against euro could have indicated that the market did not rule out a possible change of the cost of money. Nevertheless, the FOMC did not modify its monetary policy. As a result, global major stock indices started to grow dynamically, especially in the US.

The past week was marked by significant volatility in major global stock exchanges. In Europe, the market sentiment was extremely bearish. During the whole week, French CAC40 declined by 3.5%, German DAX went down by 2.8% and British FTSE250 fell by 0.2%. Meanwhile, the US stock indices managed to end last week in positive territory – the NASDAQ rose by 2.3%, the S&P500 went up by 0.5% and the DJI increased by 0.2%. Investors focused on economic data from the US. The readings disappointed once again. The dynamic of the retail sales stood at -0.3% m/m vs -0.2% projected.

The first part of the last week was very smooth on the financial markets. Investors was waiting for Thursday’s decision of the ECB’s Governing Council on the interest rates. The market did not expect any changes in the monetary policy, whereas investors hoped that during the conference Mario Draghi would announce an extension of the QE. Meanwhile, the president of the ECB did not declare any dovish changes in the near future. As a result, major global stock indices started do decrease. What is more, they continued to decline on Friday as well. During the whole week, French CAC40 went down by 1.1%, German DAX deteriorated by 1% and British FTSE250 fell by 0.7%.

Last week was very rich in numerous macroeconomic data readings, especially from the US. It was expected that the data could have helped to answer the question whether the recent hawkish comments of Fed representatives would be reflected in the interest rates rise. The latest economic data readings failed, whereas the market believed that the FOMC would decide to tighten monetary policy in the coming months. On the one hand, the reading of the Conference Board index surprised positively (101.1 pts. vs 96.9 pts. expected), while on the other the publication of the Chicago PMI disappointed investors (51.5 pts. vs 54 pts. expected).