Global and local markets continued their stormy conditions last week with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech before Congress standing out among the rest. In it, Yellen testified that the central bank was prepared to return to “normal” monetary policy if a worsening should occur in global stock markets.
Yellen added that the Fed still expects to raise rates gradually this year in light of steady growth and solid employment data and warned the Senate Banking Committee against overestimating the extent of the overseas threat—especially China—to the growing U.S. economy.
Another big mover last week was the yen with the preliminary GDP estimate for the third quarter of 2015 coming in late Sunday with a 0.2 percent contradiction despite the BOJ’s latest easing policy. The GDP report also indicated that domestic demand had slumped 0.3 percent with particular contraction in the private non-resident investing which fell 1.3 percent and public investment shrinking 0.3 percent.
This Week
The big news this week will be ECB President Mario Draghi who will testify on Monday before the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in Brussels. He will probably discuss the downside risks to the Eurozone’s economy from the slowdown in China, the mild inflation and growing geopolitical uncertainties.
Also on Wednesday, the FOMC will release the minutes from the January meeting, in which the Fed left rates unchanged and still left the door open to a hike in March. At that meeting, they warned about global developments but did not mention risks. The minutes will reveal more data on how the Fed sees the economy and where the wind is blowing.