Investing.com – Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
US manufacturing and jobs data on tap
Market participants look ahead to the release of a pair of economic reports on manufacturing and jobs due Thursday, for signs of improvement in the U.S. economy following the Federal Reserve’s forecast for a year-end rate hike.
Philly Fed manufacturing index for August is expected show a dip in manufacturing activity as economists expect a negative impact in national manufacturing following disruptions due to Hurricane Harvey.
On the jobs data front, economists forecast the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended Sept. 15, to rise by 16,000 to 300,000.
Ahead of the manufacturing and jobs data, the dollar traded sharply higher against its rivals.
The yen is back in the spotlight
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday.
The BoJ is on a different monetary policy trajectory from its global counterparts like the Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada, the latter of which has hiked rates twice this year.
Market participants, however, will carefully parse comments from the BoJ for any subtle deviation from the central bank’s somewhat dovish stance.
USD/JPY rose 0.58% to Y112.16 on Wednesday.
Gold prices to drop below $1,300?
Gold prices is expected to come under pressure on Thursday following the Federal Open Market Committee policy statement on Wednesday, in which it signalled that Fed members mostly stuck with their June rate-hike outlook to raise rates once more this year.
The unchanged rate-hike outlook was somewhat unexpected as investor expectations of a December rate hike in the run up to the Fed’s statement were slim, as the trend of slow inflation has yet to improve.
Gold fell to $1,304.15, down 0.51%.