Market movers ahead
A stream of data from China will probably show that the slowdown continued in September and Q3 as a whole, that inflation is still falling and that there is therefore still space to ease economic policy.
The Spanish saga will roll on in a week featuring both a meeting of the European Council and local elections in Spain.
US data, on the other hand, will probably show higher consumer spending and inflation in September and signs of further growth in October.
Norges Bank’s regional network will be an important pointer for Norwegian interest rates and news is due from the Swedish labour market.
Global update
Spain’s credit rating was cut to just above junk status but the other euro countries rallied round and the downgrade was taken on the chin by financial markets.
In the US, the labour market exceeded expectations while exports disappointed, so on balance we are none the wiser.
The dispute between Japan and China can now be seen in the data, with the boycott of Japanese cars leading to falling auto sales in China.
Swedish industrial production was surprisingly robust, while Norwegian inflation was lower than expected.
