Take Five: An uneasy calm
(Reuters) — Still punchy after a bond market rout and forex market gyrations, financial markets are bracing for U.S. inflation numbers and the start of earnings season.
There's plenty to chew over for policy makers meeting at the World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual meeting, while Britain's opposition Labour party — vying for government — will set out its stall ahead of next year's election.
Here's your week ahead in markets from Kevin Buckland in Tokyo, Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Rachel Savage in Johannesburg, and Naomi Rovnick and Dhara Ranasinghe in London.
1/ A JAPANESE INTRIGUE
When all were bowing before king dollar in days gone by, the yen suddenly had other ideas. Following a grind to a new one-year peak above 150 yen on Tuesday, the bottom fell out, and a minute or so later the dollar was bouncing off 147.
Markets whispered about possible intervention, although many had doubts and the dollar recovered quickly, lacking the shock-and-awe of Japan's move a year ago. Central bank data strongly hints of no official action that day. But the spectre of intervention will likely keep tugging at dollar spikes, maybe all the way until the next central bank decision on Halloween.
Meanwhile, the euro is facing its own ghosts, with resurgent oil prices hurting a deteriorating economy and renewed concerns about Italy's fiscal position raising the risk of a move back towards the psychologically key $1 marker.
2/ HOT, COLD, OR JUST RIGHT?
With benchmark Treasury yields around 16-year peaks, stakes are high for Thursday's monthly U.S. consumer price index report as investors gauge whether the Fed is likely to hike rates again to ensure inflation keeps cooling.
August data showed the fastest inflation
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