Trader’s Diary: Everything you need to get ready for the week ahead

Major economic headlines last week

US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said he’s not deterred from hiking rates in March as planned, despite the ongoing market volatility caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Speaking to US law makers on Thursday, Powell signalled that he would raise rates by 25bp, but has all but ruled out a 50bp rate hike.

“His remarks sparked more tumult in bond markets, which this week, have been behaving like the caffeine-addled tail-chasing fast-money gnomes of the equity market,” said senior market analyst for OandA Asia Pacific, Jefferey Halley.

US yields plummeted this week as markets removed rate hike expectations, with the benchmark treasury yield trading at 1.85% at the time of writing, a far from the 2% a week before.

“The key to this whole puzzle that is being overlooked is what shape the US yield curve, and others, will look like as the Ukraine situation evolves. There is little doubt that a stagflationary wave is on the way to the world, it’s really just how big it will be,” Halley said.

The panic in oil markets continued this week, with Brent rising to US$118/barrel at Friday’s close.

Natural gas has hit a new record in Europe amid supply concerns, and the Eurozone CPI is at 5.8%, the highest level since the inception of Euro.

The just-released minutes from the ECB’s February meeting showed the growing hawkishness of the central bank in tackling inflation, although the Ukraine war has now added a new dimension to any decision.

In Australia, the RBA has unsurprisingly kept the cash rate at 0.1%

Economic calendar for this week

Sources: Commsec.

Australia

MONDAY
Job advertisements (February), which is a leading indicator of the job market.

TUESDAY
NAB Business survey for February.

WEDNESDAY
Speech by Reserve Bank Governor to the AFR Business Summit.
Consumer confidence index.

THURSDAY
Weekly payroll jobs and wages.

FRIDAY
Another speech by RBA Governor, Philip Lowe.

International calendar

US (AEDT)

MONDAY
US consumer credit for January, which is xpected to lift by US$24.4 billion.

TUESDAY
US International trade for January. Deficit of US$82 billion is expected

THURSDAY
US Consumer prices for February. Last reading was 7.5% on the year.

FRIDAY
US Consumer sentiment for March, whic

China

MONDAY
China international trade for (Jan and Feb).

WEDNESDAY
China inflation rate for February

Europe (AEDT)

TUESDAY
Sentix consumer confidence.

WEDNESDAY
Eurozone employment rate.
Eurozone GDP for Q4.

FRIDAY
Euro central bank monetary policy statement and press conference.

ASX IPO calendar for this week

Catalano Seafood (ASX:CSF), a seafood processor, wholesaler, retailer and exporter. The company raised $6m at 20c each.

US Student Housing REIT (ASX:USQ). This REIT fund owns and manages a portfolio of student housing real estate assets in the US. The fund raised $45m at $1.28.