Bank of England's rate decision

In the UK, the Bank of England's (BOE) monetary policy committee will hog the limelight this week as it meets to set the BOE rate. Meanwhile, markets will obtain the industrial production and manufacturing production figures for August. The Nationwide consumer confidence survey will provide an insight to the sentiment of consumers within the UK. Markets will also monitor development within the housing market through the release of the HBOS house prices for September. The August visible trade balance figure will close the data release for the week.

In the EU, markets will receive the final prints of the second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the Eurozone. Meanwhile, the release of the Sentix Investror Confidence survey will provide a measure of the investor confidence towards the Eurozone economy. Markets will also expect the release of several economic indicators from some major economies within the euro area. French, Italian and German Industrial Production figures (IP) should provide evidence on recent manufacturing trends within these countries. Besides, France will release manufacturing production figures for August, while Germany will release the factory orders for the same month. The Eurozone government spending statistics are also out this week.

In the US, markets will be focused on the minutes of the September 16 Federal open market committee meeting. On the data front, the initial jobless claims and continuing claims will provide markets with an update on the labour market. MBA mortgage applications and pending home sales are also due. The ABC consumer confidence survey will provide markets with a view on the consumer sentiment. The data schedule will be completed by the release of the consumer credit, trade balance figures and import price index.

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