The hawkish tilt by Fed chair Powell yesterday shouldn't be all too surprising, yet is was the case for markets in general. But when you think about it, with the blackout period coming up, he is essentially hedging his bets that the Fed might have to go with a 50 bps move later this month. And here are six reasons why:
- ADP employment data (8/3)
- Non-farm payrolls and jobs data (10/3)
- CPI data (14/3)
- Retail sales data (15/3)
- PPI data (15/3)
- U.Michigan consumer sentiment (17/3)
The ones in bold are of course the more important ones to pay attention to, as they are more likely to trigger another round of volatility in markets depending on what the data has to offer.
These are essentially the landmines that markets will have to brave through, all before the FOMC policy meeting decision on 22 March.
