Four central banks met and left their respective monetary policies unchanged. Economic data were mixed. New data from Europe indicated that the economies there are beginning to stabilize. In Japan, the data including industrial output, manufacturing PMI and retail and household spending were negative. In the U.S. results were mixed as well, with the employment report disappointing while indicators of manufacturing activity picked up.
After last week, the coming week almost seems peaceful. The Reserve Bank of Australia meets as does the Bank of Japan. The betting is that the RBA will lower its policy interest rate while the BoJ will sit tight. Also on the calendar are the monthly deluge of July data from China and a slew of service and composite PMIs
