Investors are awaiting the US central bank's decision on interest rates, as the Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin cutting rates this week.
However, the size of the expected reduction remains uncertain, with questions remaining as to whether the reduction will be small or larger than expected.
In addition to the US Federal Reserve decision, there are also important interest rate decisions in the UK, Brazil, Norway, Turkey and South Africa.
The central banks of Japan and China are also expected to issue their decisions, along with announcements expected in Taiwan and Indonesia.
Expected economic events from today, September 16 to 20:
Tomorrow, Tuesday, will see the release of the August retail sales report, which provides data on the size of consumer spending.
This report is a leading indicator of economic growth and inflation in the current quarter.
Also on Tuesday, the August industrial production report is released, which shows the volume of output from U.S. industrial sectors, such as manufacturing, mining and utilities.
Although these sectors represent a small part of economic activity compared to services, they are an important indicator of economic performance.
The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its decision on interest rates at a press conference on Wednesday, September 18.
The CME Fed Watch tool indicates a 41% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut, while the probability of a larger 50 basis point cut is estimated at 59%.
This cut would bring interest rates down to about 5% from the current 5.5%.
âThe market is now trading at $100 billion,â Martin Whitton, head of financial markets strategy at Westpac Banking Corp. in Australia, told Bloomberg.
Asian markets opened cautiously on Monday morning, anticipating a series of upcoming data and central bank decisions that could determine the path of markets through the end of the year and possibly into early 2025.
Cryptocurrency Market Overview:
The cryptocurrency market took a dive on Monday morning, with the total market cap falling 4.3% to $2.12 trillion, erasing all the gains made over the weekend.
Bitcoin is down 3%, falling from above $60,000 on Sunday to below $58,500 on Monday morning, trading near $59,000 at press time.
Ethereum took a bigger hit, falling 6% to $2,300 at the time of writing, its lowest level in more than a week.
As for altcoins, they witnessed a greater decline, with the top 20 cryptocurrencies covered in red.
