This week: Market commentators are predicting that US interest rates will be cut on Halloween when the Federal Open Market Committee meets.
Until the September figures for existing home sales were released, it looked likely that rates would remain on hold, but due to the weak household data, it now seems likely that a quarter-point rate cut is on the cards.
The tone of the market committee's policy statement will also be scrutinised for any indication that further rate reductions may be coming down the line.
US non-farm payroll data out on Friday will reveal the number of new jobs created in October. Predictions vary from a modest 60,000 to a more encouraging 85,000. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at 4.7 per cent, which could calm economic jitters.
The week gets off to a slow start here with the bank holiday today and will remain relatively quiet in terms of economic indicators. The highlight will be the industrial employment and earnings figures on Wednesday.
Today
Public holiday
RESULTS:Blinkx, Hertz, Kellogg, Lok'nStore, Michelin, Provident, Scania.
INDICATORS:UK consumer credit (Sept); German cost of living (Oct); Japanese housing starts (Sept) and construction orders (Sept).
OTHERS:Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan speaks at 14th annual MARHedge global hedge fund summit (Bermuda); EU and Central African countries hold ministerial meeting on new economic partnership agreements (Brussels).
Tuesday
RESULTS:Beckman Coulter, Colgate- Palmolive, Evans, Imperial Tobacco, Booker, Luminar, Procter & Gamble, Sun Life Financial, Wolfson Microelectronics.
INDICATORS:US weekly retail sales (Oct 27th), Conference Board consumer confidence (Aug) and Case-Schillen house prices (Aug); German unemployment (Oct); French industrial trends (Q3); Japanese household spending (Sept) and unemployment rate (Sept).
OTHERS:EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes speaks at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois); OECD's Evaluating Innovative Approaches to Public Service Delivery symposium (Madrid); ECB governing council member Erkki Liikanen speaks at seminar for university IT people on ITC supporting productivity, structural changes and know-how (Jyvaskyla, Finland); Bank of England monetary policy committee member David Blanchflower to speak at Lancaster University; ECB governing council member Erkki Liikanen to speak at Bank of Finland museum event on Finland, the Bank of Finland and ECB monetary policy (Helsinki).
Wednesday 31st
RESULTS:Alcatel-Lucent, Deutsche Bank, Hitachi, Prudential, RDF Media, Tate & Lyle, Sanofi-Aventis, Singapore Airlines, Visteon, Weyerhaeuser.
INDICATORS:EU HICP (Oct), unemployment (Sept) and business and consumer confidence indices (Oct); Irish industrial employment and earnings (June); US GDP (Q3), employment cost index (Q3), new construction, refinancing index (w/e Oct 26th), mortgage market index (w/e Oct 26th), ADP employment report (Oct) and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision; UK nationwide house prices; Norges Bank rate decision; Japanese monetary policy meeting; Australian consumer price index (Sept) and building approvals (Sept).
OTHERS:Trading updates from Taylor Wimpey and Woolworths; FOMC concludes two-day meeting on interest rates and economy (Washington); Bank of Japan widely expected to leave its key policy interest rate unchanged; global competitiveness report due out by the World Economic Forum; ECB governing council member Axel Weber gives keynote address at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
Thursday 1st
Public holiday in some European countries
RESULTS:ABN Amro, AstraZeneca, BG Group, Credit Suisse, ExxonMobil, Getty Images, Imperial Chemical Industries, Shire, Smith & Nephew, Unilever, Venture, Westpac Banking.
INDICATORS:Irish NCB purchasing managers' survey - manufacturing (Oct); US personal income and spending (Sept), jobless claims (Oct 27th), Challenger layoff survey (Oct), car sales (Oct) and money supply (w/e Oct 22nd); UK purchasing managers' survey (Oct).
OTHERS:Trading update from Standard Life; Swiss National Bank board member Thomas Jordan speaks on Monetary Policy in a Climate of Increased Uncertainty (Geneva).
Friday 2nd
RESULTS:British Airways
AGM:BSkyB
MEETINGS:Pan Andean Resources information meeting for its Irish shareholders (12pm, St Stephen's Green Hibernian Club).
INDICATORS:Euroland purchasing managers survey (Oct); Irish EBR (end Oct); US non-farm payroll (Oct) and factory orders (Sept); Italian purchasing managers' survey (Oct); French purchasing managers' survey (Oct).
OTHERS:Small Firms' Association (SFA) annual lunch. Speakers to include Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and AIB chief executive Eugene Sheehy (12.30pm, Burlington Hotel).
