In the past week, not macro data but a symposium in Jackson Hole was the most important event of the week, or even whole month. The culminating point was the occurrence of Fed boss J. Yellen, which caused high volatility and strong fall on EURUSD. In the case of stock markets, a high response was not observed. Europe's most important stock exchanges on Friday ended the session in positive territory, whereby Wall Street noted only a mild decline.

The establishment of historical records on Wall Street apparently was not accidental. Even a week of weaker sentiment resulted in neutral ending, keeping indices close to records. Last FOMC meeting, which showed indecision among the local central bankers found fertile soil. They do not see the trouble of inflationary pressure, while data from the US economy, although good, is not yet convincing. Therefore it seems, that rate increases in September is not a basic scenario.

Last week was exceptional for the major American stock indices. On Thursday, the DJI, the NASDAQ and the S&P500 reached their historical peaks. The last time a similar situation occurred 17 years ago. However, during the whole week, all these indices reported slight growths. The market sentiment was bullish in Europe as well. German DAX rose by 3.3%, British FTSE250 increased by 2.6% and French CAC40 took off by 2%. It is worth paying attention to the latest macroeconomic data from the Eurozone. The GDP growth for the second quarter of 2016 amounted to 1.6% y/y. The result was in line with market expectations.

The first week of August did not bring significant changes in the major global stock indices. In Europe, British FTSE250 rose by 1.1%, German DAX increased by 0.3%, while French CAC40 declined by 0.7%. In the US, the NASDAQ went up by 1.1%, the DJI took off by 0.6% and the S&P500 soared by 0.4%. Investors focused on the readings of the PMI indices for the Eurozone which turned out to exceed the market expectations. The manufacturing PMI stood at 52 pts. and the services PMI amounted to 52.9 pts.. Meanwhile, the readings of the American ISM indices and the dynamic of the factory goods orders disappointed investors.

In the last week of July the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan were in the spotlight. In line with market expectations, the FOMC did not change the interest rates. The Fed reiterated that the latest data confirmed the good state of the US economy. However, the members of the council did not mention the potential date of the interest rates raise. Furthermore, the Fed pointed out that the most crucial factor was the inflation rate which was projected to remain low. As a result, the FOMC meeting was interpreted as dovish by market. Nonetheless, the Bank of Japan managed to arouse a little more emotions. The BoJ unexpectedly did not lower the interest rates, whereas it decided to increase the scope of its lending program.