A review of the week past and the week ahead 8th of February

What mattered last week:

The S&P500 rose 4.7% to a new record high on good earnings data as well as progress on vaccine rollouts and lowering infection rates.
As softer than expected jobs data in the US reinforced the need for more fiscal stimulus.
Volatility, as measured by the VIX index closed much lower at 20.9 from 33.1.
U.S. 10-year yields rose 10bp to close near 1.17%.
Gold fell -1.80% to close near $1814.00.
Crude oil closed almost 9% higher, near $56.85/bbl.
The ASX200 rallied 3.53% to close at 6840.50, following very dovish guidance from the RBA on rates and QE.
The AUD/USD closed modestly higher near .7677, supported by stronger risk sentiment which offset the dovish RBA.

For the week ahead, the key events are:

Australia: NAB business confidence (Tuesday), HIA new home sales (Wednesday), Westpac consumer confidence (Thursday).

NAB business confidence (Tuesday): Is likely to show continuing strength in business conditions and a rebound in confidence after Sydney’s pre-Christmas Covid-19 cluster was contained and eliminated.

New Zealand: Business inflation expectations (Tuesday), business PMI (Friday).

China: CPI January (Wednesday).

CPI January (Wednesday): Is expected to fall into negative territory for the second time in three months falling by -0.2% YoY in January.

Japan: Current account (Monday), machine tool orders (Tuesday), PPI (Wednesday).

Singapore: Foreign exchange reserves (Monday).

Korea: Employment (Wednesday).

U.S: CPI Jan (Wednesday), jobless claims (Thursday).

CPI January (Wednesday): Headline CPI inflation for January is expected to increase by 1.4% YoY, reflecting a rise in energy prices. Core CPI is expected to remain unchanged at 1.6%.

US earnings season continues with reports from companies including Cisco, PepsiCo, and Walt Disney.

Euro Area: German industrial production(Monday), German balance of trade and current account (Tuesday), EA industrial production (Friday).

UK: Balance of trade, industrial production, GDP Q4 and 3-month average (Friday).

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