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The markets on Monday, viewed several hours before opening, appear ready to start on a positive note, with most major indices in the green at time of writing.
This week will be jam-packed with clues about what we can expect over the next few months. By the end of the week, we will have a fairly clear picture of the outlook for the rest of 2020.
The U.S. Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday and Wednesday for the last time before the November election, and appears poised to maintain its current range of 0%-0.25%. Also, on Wednesday, the OECD releases its interim outlook.
Meanwhile the Bank of Japan is likely to hold steady and the future of the so-called Abenomics seems assured. On Thursday, the Bank of England may announce more stimulus for the British economy, currently laboring under the impact of the pandemic, rising unemployment and renewed BREXIT tensions. At time of writing, the central bank of Brazil appears likely to keep its benchmark rate at or near 2.0%.
One part of the outlook seems certain: given the fragile nature of the American and other Western economies and given the advantages to governments of keeping interest rates low (thus holding down their own borrowing costs), it is reasonable to believe that interest rates will stay low for some time.