The US economic calendar has been active this week, with the Fed reacting to rising PCE, PPI, and CPI inflation data.
Additionally, the central bank's decisions and upcoming economic data releases will provide insight into the inflation fight and the trajectory of the broader U.S. economy, and will shape market sentiment in the coming months.
Additionally, this week will see a number of earnings reports from more than 20% of the S&P 500.
Notable economic events
All eyes are on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who begins two days of meetings on Tuesday. Federal Open Market Committee policymakers are expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 5.25% to 5.5% when they close Wednesday.
U.S. interest rates have remained unchanged since July last year as inflation remains high, above the Fed's 2% target.
Chairman Powell is scheduled to hold a regular press conference on Wednesday to discuss the details of the decision and current frustrating inflationary pressures.
Additionally, last week's GDP report showed that economic growth was slowing while inflation was rising, surprising markets at the time.
Macroeconomics newspaper Covisi Letter commented, “Almost all major headwinds will subside this week.''
In terms of economic indicators, the April jobs report will be released on Friday, with the unemployment rate expected to be 3.8%. However, this is to be expected and no major surprises are expected.
Consumer confidence, ISM manufacturing and payroll statistics will also be released this week.
This week, several major companies, including Apple, Amazon, AMD, and Mastercard, are scheduled to release their quarterly earnings reports, further increasing market volatility.
Virtual currency market outlook
Digital asset markets were relatively slow over the weekend after falling 4.4% from the same period last week.
Total capitalization fell slightly to $2.4 trillion, and trading volumes in Asia were modest on Monday morning.
Bitcoin fell 2% on the day to below $62,000, but remains within the sideways channel it formed at the end of February.
Ethereum's price hit a two-week high of $3,342 over the weekend, but began to fall by Monday morning, dropping 3% to $3,200.
Altcoins are in a sea of red amid what could be a volatile week for crypto markets, with losses likely to widen if interest rates remain unchanged.