The Week Ahead – Week Commencing 27 October 2025

It was another busy week in financial markets last week that ended on a high for stock investors, as earnings reports and a weaker CPI print pushed US indices back to record levels on Friday. Gold was volatile again but notably recorded its first weekly loss in ten, and oil surged as fresh sanctions were placed on Russia by the US.

It is likely to be another busy week for investors ahead, with a plethora of major central bank rate calls likely to battle with more new geopolitical updates for market sentiment. The US government shutdown, and the consequent lack of data, looks set to continue into another week, which will detract from fundamental updates and may start to weigh on local sentiment.
There are major earnings reports due again out of the US, and investors will be hoping for more good news to maintain the current sentiment.

Here is our usual day-by-day breakdown of the major risk events this week:

It’s a quiet start to the week on Monday on the event calendar, although traders will be looking for US–China trade updates from Kuala Lumpur for initial direction. We do hear from RBA Governor Michele Bullock later in the day, and the German IFO Business Climate numbers are due out; however, most investors are expecting geopolitics to dominate sentiment.

Another quiet day on Tuesday before things start to pick up, with little again on the calendar. The first two sessions of the day are lacking any significant events scheduled, and in the US, we have the Richmond Manufacturing Index data due out, but once again traders will focus on newswires for any fresh direction.

The initial focus in Asian markets will be on Australia, with key CPI numbers due out. Focus will jump across the Tasman later in the day with RBNZ Governor Christian Hawkesby due to speak later in the day. There is little of note on the calendar in the London session; however, things will pick up once New York comes in. Again, we have both North American central banks set to deliver rate updates on the same day, with first the Bank of Canada making its announcement from Ottawa before, a few hours later, we get the key update from the Fed in Washington DC.

The focus will be squarely on Japanese markets in the Asian session on Thursday, with the Bank of Japan set to update the market on its rate decision. Extra emphasis is being placed on this meeting given recent government changes, with any forward guidance likely to lead to big swings in the yen. We have CPI data out of Germany and Spain early in the London session; however, the big focus will be on the ECB when they make their rate announcement midway through the day. There is GDP data scheduled in the US later in the day, although at the moment the chances of a release are low given the government shutdown.

The initial focus in Asia will again be on Japanese markets, with the Tokyo Core CPI numbers due out; however, it will then jump to China for the release of the PMI data. The London session will see the release of the EU Flash CPI data, and Canadian GDP numbers are due out shortly after the New York open. US Core PCE Price Index data and Employment Cost numbers are again pencilled in; however, once again, this is largely dependent on whether the government shutdown continues.

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