This Week’s Economic Calendar: US Employment Data, Eurozone Inflation Figures, Canadian GDP Numbers, and Best Buy and Salesforce Earnings Reports

This Thursday, the release of data on German retail sales (09:00 GMT+3) and unemployment figures (10:55 GMT+3) may affect the euro. However, inflation data and the unemployment rate for the Eurozone (12:00 GMT+3) will be the most important triggers for movements in the single currency. Besides these, the European Central Bank will publish minutes of its July monetary policy meeting, which will provide guidance on the future monetary policy of the ECB.

Last Friday, during a speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Jerome Powell claimed the Fed was "prepared to raise rates further" as the central bank's 2% inflation target remains in place. On Friday (15:30 GMT+3), traders will closely track US NFP and unemployment rate releases. According to forecasts, the unemployment rate will remain unchanged, while the NFP figure may decline compared to the previous month. The release may cause increased volatility, as the market's expectations of a November rate hike have already surged by 10% to 47.9% from a week ago, following Powell's speech.

On Friday, GDP releases (15:30 GMT+3) may affect the Canadian dollar. Q2 figures may cause volatility as the consensus says there will be a marked slowdown in the second quarter. This may give the Bank of Canada cause to pause its interest rate hikes, although the recent inflation figures would refute that.

At the beginning of the last week of August, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are all down compared to the beginning of the month. Still, compared to the beginning of the year, the S&P 500 is up 10%, the Nasdaq 100 is up 27%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 3.5%. Meanwhile, the earnings season is drawing to a close. Best Buy (BBY) and Salesforce (CRM) are of interest this week.