A look ahead to the major events, economic releases and company news expected over the next week.
The coming week will be dominated by the usual focus on the US jobs report, particularly since the dollar has been given fresh strength by recent hawkish policy comments. Strong growth in jobs and a decent pickup in wage growth could see the greenback rally gather momentum, which would have deleterious consequences for oil prices.
Company news is very thin on the ground this week, with some way to go before we get into the next US earnings season. As a result, the economic calendar will be the main focus, and here at least we have a decent selection of data from the major economies, including China, which will release PMI data for both its manufacturing and services sectors.
After a rally of such epic proportions, stocks look finally to be losing their bullish momentum. As the new quarter looms on the horizon, we will finally get to see whether the bounce from mid-February was just a bear market rally that sets up the market for further declines. The alternative is that the remarkably strong breadth readings we have had on indices point towards a continuation of the rally into the second quarter, once this brief period of weakness and profit-taking is out of the way.
