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 the labor market and manufacturing due Thursday, for signs of underlying strength in the U.S. economy.
Philly Fed manufacturing index for September is expected show a dip in manufacturing activity as some parts of the country continued to recover 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 Oct. 13, to fall by 3000 to 240,000.
Ahead of the manufacturing and jobs data, the dollar traded lower against its rivals as the Fed’s Beige Book indicated that the trend of slowing inflation continued.
Retail sales data to shift sterling higher?
Investors expect data to show UK retail sales growth fell in September as the sluggish pace of wage growth continues to weigh on household budgets.
The data comes amid growing expectations that the Bank of England will tighten monetary policy in November, following comments from Bank of England governor Mark Carney earlier last week.
Carney said that a rate increase would be appropriate in the “coming months”.
GBP/USD rose 0.05% to $1.3197 on Wednesday.
China economic growth in the spotlight
China will report third-quarter gross domestic product figures on Thursday amid an uptick in sentiment on economic growth in the world’s second biggest economy after data earlier this week showed producer prices beat expectations.
China’s economic growth is expected to have slowed to 6.8% in the third quarter from 6.9% in the same period a year ago. The report will also include an update on property investment and infrastructure spending, key components of economic growth.
Prices of commodities such as gold and copper are likely to be closely watch by investors as China is the world’s largest commodity consumer.