US CPI inflation for July turned out to be softer than expected but it did not lead to any major USD weakening. FOMC minutes will be released next week and will be watched closely for hints on next Fed moves. Traders will also tune in for a rate decision from RBNZ and US retail sales data for July. Be sure to watch GOLD, US500 and AUDNZD in the week ahead!
GOLD
FOMC minutes are scheduled to be released this Wednesday at 7:00 pm BST. Document will relate to a meeting at which the Fed decided to hike rates by 25 basis points, to 5.25-5.50% range - the highest levels since early-2001! The US central bank once again repeated that decision will be data-dependent and highlighted jobs and CPI data as key. However, will the document include any dovish surprises that may halt recent USD gains or sell-off on gold? We shall see on Wednesday!
US500
Investors will get an update on conditions of the US consumer next week with the release of retail sales data for July (Tuesday, 1:30 pm BST). Report is expected to show a bigger increase in headline and core retail sales than it did for June. Apart from US retail sales data, traders will also get earnings reports from major US retailers - Home Depot (Tuesday), Target (Wednesday) and Walmart (Thursday) - all of which are members of S&P 500 index (US500)!
AUDNZD
AUDNZD is one of the currency pairs that may see some bigger moves next week. RBNZ rate decision on Wednesday, 3:00 am BST is a key event of the week for AUDNZD trades and New Zealand's central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged at 5.50%. Apart from the RBNZ decision, AUDNZD will also get a chance to move on RBA minutes (Tuesday, 2:30 am BST) and Australian jobs data for July (Thursday, 2:30 am BST).
