According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), emerging economies and nations must be ready to face interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve, as part of its policy tightening initiatives. The IMF blog points out that faster-than-expected moves by the American central bank can shake up emerging economies, despite expectations that inflationary pressures will lessen later in 2022.

MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS

The central bank of Argentina released a poll conducted by analysts, which indicates that inflation in the South American nation is likely to reach 54.8% by the end of the year, which is 2.7% higher than December’s estimation. Despite that, the poll pointed out that the Argentinian economy is expected to grow by 2.9% in 2022, which is 0.4% higher than previous estimates.

The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, is expected to announce more measures and modifications to the European nation’s anti-inflationary package, as stated by the government’s spokesperson Piotr Muller. Muller also mentioned that such measures can be prolonged should inflation carry on escalating.

CURRENCIES

The U.S. dollar traded on an upward trajectory, remaining solid amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates at a faster pace than expected. Investors & traders believe that inflation data and the appearance of central bank officials would increase the likelihood of higher interest rates. The dollar index traded 0.22% higher to 95.930.

GOLD

Gold futures stumbled to near three-week lows as investors & traders grasp the latest U.S. jobs report, now shifting their focus towards inflation figures. With the consumer price index later on this week on investor watch amid a stronger dollar greenback, the safe haven dropped 0.14% in value to $1,792 per ounce.

OIL

Crude oil prices surge higher, fueled by supply issues in Libya and Kazakhstan looming from the previous week, amid escalating infections of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on a worldwide scale. Brent futures jumped 0.22% to $81.92, while WTI oil edged 0.20% higher to $79.06 per barrel.

INDICES

USA: S&P500 -0.41%, Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.01%, Nasdaq Composite -1.10%

Europe: FTSE 100 +0.47%, DAX -0.65%, CAC 40 -0.42%

Asia: Nikkei 225 -0.03%, Hang Seng +0.99%, CSI 300 +0.45%, Nifty 50 +0.82%