Investing.com - Global financial markets will focus on minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting in the week ahead, as investors look for more hints on the timing of the next U.S. rate hike and clues on how the central bank plans to pare back its balance sheet.
Market players will also keep an eye on key U.S. economic data, with Friday's monthly employment report in the spotlight.
Meanwhile, comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will be in focus, following his unexpected shift in rhetoric towards higher interest rates last week.
Elsewhere, traders will be looking to employment data from Canada amid fresh speculation the Bank of Canada could raise interest rates as soon as this month.
A monetary policy announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia will also be in focus.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of the five biggest events on the economic calendar that are most likely to affect the markets.
1. Fed FOMC Meeting Minutes
The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its most recent policy meeting on Wednesday at 2:00PM ET (1800GMT).
There are also a number of Fed speakers in the coming week, with St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, San Francisco Fed Chief John Williams, Fed Governor Jay Powell and Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer all on the agenda.
The Fed raised interest rates as widely expected following its meeting on June 14 and maintained plans to go ahead with another rate hike by year-end. The central bank also provided greater detail about how it plans to reduce its massive $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
Despite the Fed's relatively hawkish message, market players remained doubtful over the central bank's ability to raise rates as much as it would like in the coming months due to softening inflation.
Futures traders are pricing in about a 20% chance of a hike at the Fed's September meeting, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool. Odds of a December increase was seen at around 50%.
2. U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls Report
The U.S. Labor Department will release its June nonfarm payrolls report at 8:30AM ET (1230GMT) on Friday.
The consensus forecast is that the data will show jobs growth of 180,000 this month, following an increase of 138,000 in May, the unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 4.3%, while average hourly earnings are expected to rise 0.3% after gaining 0.2% a month earlier.
Besides the monthly jobs report, this week's holiday-shortened calendar also features U.S. data on manufacturing and service sector growth, auto sales, factory orders as well as monthly trade figures.