Top 3 events to move markets in the short trading week ahead

The trading week ahead is short due to the Memorial Day holiday in the United States. Yet, this is the NFP week, so financial markets’ volatility will increase. 

The United States celebrates Memorial Day, and so the US markets are closed today. Yet, the week ahead of full of important economic events that will move the stock market.

Besides the fact that the month’s last trading day is more volatile than others, investors should also consider the following economic events scheduled for this week: the CPI Flash Estimate in the Eurozone, the ISM Manufacturing, and the NFP in the United States.

European traders await the CPI Flash Estimate data

The US stock market rallied last week. It closed the week at the highs, triggering similar moves in Europe today. Moreover, the futures point to further advances, further fueling European markets, which rose by about 1% on the week’s first trading day.

Tomorrow, the yearly CPI Flash Estimate is scheduled in Europe. The market expects inflation in Europe to reach 7.7% YoY, but the bias is that the number will be higher.

ISM Manufacturing expected at 54.9

While the manufacturing sector does not impact the US GDP as the services sector does, it is relevant because the ISM indicator is a leading one. It leads the business cycle, and if the manufacturing sector contracts or expands, it is a sign of what is to follow in the world’s largest economy. 

The market expects the ISM Manufacturing PMI at 54.9, well above the 50 level which signals growth in the sector. 

Non-Farm Employment Change

Because next Friday is the first one of the new month, all eyes are on the NFP data. The US economy is expected to have added 325k new jobs in May, after 428k jobs were added in the previous month.

As always, when the jobs data is out, investors should also focus on the unemployment rate and possible revisions to previous data.