This week’s main scheduled events are the FOMC meeting on October 28–29 and the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting on October 29–30.
Ordinarily, central bank meetings would be the primary focus.
However, political factors have made the outlook for monetary policy less predictable, and no major surprises are expected from either side.
At the FOMC, another 25bp rate cut—following the September meeting—is widely expected.
In his October 14 speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell remarked, “Based on the data that we do have, it is fair to say that the outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting four weeks ago.”
The U.S. government shutdown that began on October 1 has interrupted the release of official statistics, increasing uncertainty about both the data and the underlying economic outlook.
