Market News

Global markets ended mixed on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the possibility that the Fed might have to hike interest rates again during his speech at the Jackson Hole conference. Moving ahead this week, the most important thing in the market is undoubtedly the announcement of Friday’s US employment report.

Vaccine stocks regained momentum nowadays after the new variants of covid EG.5.1, known as "Eris" and XBB.1.16.6 are emerging in the U.S. The WHO further warns that the new variant "may cause an increase in the incidence of cases and become dominant in some countries or even globally."

Shares of California-based Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM) rose 8% in after-hours trading on Monday after the company reported upbeat results for its second quarter. Zoom revealed several new artificial intelligence (AI) innovations and plans to continue investing in AI technology to further support its customers’ operations.

This week economic weakness in China and renewed Fed tightening concerns continue to hang over markets and the bulk of PMI data will be released on Wednesday. On the other hand, the other key event for the market this week Jackson Hole symposium.

Global markets ended mixed last week as investors remain concerned about the prospect of further monetary tightening by various central banks. The key data this week will once again be the FOMC as we get the latest minutes from their most recent meeting. The minutes are expected to provide more details about how the FED policymakers view cooling inflation and any hint of a pause in rate hikes.