Weekly fundamental outlook

This week the markets are preparing for a number of important economic data releases and events, with the OPEC meeting being at the forefront. A number of central bank members are also due to speak this week. Perhaps the most important event during the early Asian trading hours is Bitcoin approaching levels of $10,000, recording the highest levels historically at $9,600.
Almost no data is available on Monday, so markets are expected to see relative calm.
Powell testifies on appointment on Tuesday
Several members of the Federal Reserve are due to speak on Tuesday, most notably Jerome Powell, who is due to testify before the Senate Banking Committee about his nomination for the post of Federal Reserve Chairman, replacing Janet Yellen, whose term expires in February. Powell is expected to remain in charge of the Fed's current monetary policy.
In the UK, the results of the bank stress test will be announced and will include which banks have passed the test and which failed. This will be followed by a press conference by Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, who will talk about financial stability and comment on the test results.
Also, New Zealand's Reserve Bank is due to release the NZ Financial Stability Report which is due to be followed by the testimony of Grant Spencer, governor of the RBNZ, on this report before Parliament.
The spotlight is on the OPEC meeting on Wednesday
OPEC with Russia and nine major oil producers around the world will meet in Vienna to decide on a production cut agreement and the possibility of extending it beyond March 2018. Most forecasts suggest that it will persist until the end of 2018.
The US GDP figures for the third quarter of 2017 are due to be released and the US economy is expected to grow by 3.3% after posting a 3% growth in the second quarter of the same year. Also in the United States, Federal Reserve Governor Janet Yellen will testify before the Congressional Economic Committee on economic outlook.
Euro zone inflation figures are in the headlines on Thursday
The euro zone consumer price index is expected to rise by 1.6% in November from 1.4% in October, still far from the ECB target of 2%.
Also, US personal consumption expenditure data will be released, which is the Fed's preferred indicator for inflation and is expected to rise by 0.2% in November and 1.4% on yearly basis.
China's manufacturing sector is also expected to report expansion of 51.5 points in November, unchanged from the previous month's 51.6 points.
Employment data in Canada will be released on Friday
UK manufacturing PMI is expected to grow by 56.6 points in November, up from 56.3 in October.
Also, US manufacturing sector data from the Institute of Supply Management is due to be released and the sector is expected to grow by 58.4 points in November compared to October figure of 58.7 points.
In Canada, employment change data for November is expected to continue adding jobs by 10,000 jobs after adding 35.3K jobs in October and unemployment to fall to 6.2%