The highlights of the economic week ahead are the Federal Reserve meeting minutes and a big earnings report from semiconductor giant Nvidia.

There are also reports on global manufacturing and services indexes and consumer inflation expectations which could influence markets a little.

Economic Calendar May 20-24

Last week saw the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) cross the 40,000 mark for the first time. The stock rally was boosted by favorable figures in the CPI report, which ignited speculation that the US economy is cooling and that the central bank may cut rates in the next few months.

The minutes of the Federal Reserve FOMC May meeting will be revealed on Wednesday this week. These may offer more insight into monetary policy going forward and a projected rate-cut timeline.

On Thursday, May’s Global Manufacturing PMI preliminary report will be released, capturing business conditions in the manufacturing sector.

May 23 also sees a similar PMI report for the services sector. This is a crucial leading indicator since the services sector is responsible for over 70% of the total US GDP and a signal for changing economic conditions.

Friday, we will see May’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which measures inflation expectations. These reports portray the results of a monthly survey of consumer confidence levels in the country.

Key Events This Week:

1. Nvidia reports Q1 2024 earnings – Wednesday

2. Existing Home Sales data – Wednesday

3. Fed Meeting Minutes – Wednesday

4. New Home Sales data – Thursday

5. Durable Goods Orders data – Friday

6. Total of 18 Fed speaker events this week

All eyes are…

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 19, 2024

Wednesday also has a highly-anticipated quarterly revenue report from semiconductor giant Nvidia which could keep tech stocks and crypto on a roll.

“Bulls want Nvidia to extend the run into record highs, and bears want Nvidia to mark the top,” commented the Kobeissi Letter on May 19.

Markets in Asia ticked up on Monday, May 20, tracking Wall Street gains. Investors in the region are awaiting their own sets of economic data this week with eyes on Japan for inflation data and South Korea for a rates decision.

Crypto Market Impact

With no major economic events this week, it is unlikely that crypto markets will be heavily impacted, and volatility is likely to remain low.

Crypto markets were buoyed last week, with total capitalization topping $2.5 trillion and holding gains over the weekend. They have dipped a little over the past 24 hours, however, with a 1.2% decline.

Bitcoin fell to an intraday low of $66,000 but found support there and returned to $67,000 at the time of writing during Monday morning’s Asian trading session.

Ethereum has dropped 1.3% on the day in a fall back to $3,078 after reaching a weekend high of $3,142. The altcoins were predominantly in the red this Monday morning.

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