Last week investors focused on the minutes from the last meeting of the FOMC. It confirmed the hawkish attitude of the Fed’s representatives – they did not rule out the interest rate raise in June, providing that economic data for the second quarter of 2016 would acknowledge the strength of the US economy. Meanwhile, it is worth paying attention to the latest data from the American economy – the CPI amounted to 1.1% y/y in April vs 0.9% in March,  while the dynamic of the industrial production stood at -1.1% y/y in April vs -2% in the previous month.

The second week of May brought slight increases of European stock indices – German DAX grew by 0.8%, French CAC40 rose by 0.4% and British FTSE250 went up symbolically by 0.01%. In the first part of the week investors learnt data from major European economies. Nonetheless, most of them failed. The dynamic of the industrial production in the Eurozone disappointed investors as well – it stood at 0.2% y/y vs 1% expected.

Certainly, the first week of May was not successful for investors. In the US, the NASDAQ decreased by 0.8%, the S&P500 fell by 0.4% and the DJI deteriorated by 0.2%. In Europe, French CAC40 went down by 2.9%, German DAX  declined by 1.7% and British FTSE250 dropped by 0.9%. Last week data from the US economy was in the spotlight, especially from the labor market. Generally, they did not fail. Nonetheless, the reading of the nonfarm payrolls change disappointed investors. It stood at 160.00K in April vs 208.00K in March. On the other hand, it is worth reiterating that the unemployment rate amounted to 5% - the level was close to the natural unemployment rate.

Last week global stock exchanges were dominated by bears. In the US, the NASDAQ went down by 2.7%, while the S&P500 and the DJI decreased by 1.3%. In Europe, German DAX declined by 3.2%, French CAC40 fell by 3.1% and British FTSE250 deteriorated by 0.4%. Investors focused on data from the US.

Last week the meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council was in the spotlight. This time the representatives of the ECB did not surprise investors – interest rates remained at the current level and the scope of the QE was not change. During the conference Mario Draghi reiterated that the inflation rate accelerated. On the other hand, he paid special attention to the ECB’s readiness to continue expansionary monetary policy until the price growth stabilizes. As a result, the ECB did not significantly affect market sentiment. Investors also learnt the values of the PMI’s for the Eurozone.