EU Leaders Summit; De Guindos Speaks: 5 Key Points for this Friday

© Reuters.

By Laura Sanchez

Investing.com - Markets are pricing in the words of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The European Union Leaders Summit continues today.

ECB President Luis de Guindos to speak.

Brent crude oil is back above $110.

Cryptocurrencies move higher this morning.

These are the five factors investors should consider when making their decisions today:

1. Markets try to rebound from Powell

After two days of statements by Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), talking about the economic situation that may be created by high inflation, the markets are trying to overcome three consecutive weeks of declines.

2. EU Leaders Summit; De Guindos speaks

The European Union continues to hold the summit of its leaders where, in addition to discussing Ukraine's possible entry into the EU, the main topic is the economic situation, high inflation, the upcoming European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate hike, and some experts' forecasts of a probable recession.

Also speaking today is Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at 09:30 AM ET (1330 GMT).

3. Crypto on the rise

The cryptocurrency sector is recovering this morning. Bitcoin is trading at 21,000 dollars and Ethereum at 1,100.

4. Asia and the U.S. stock market

Positive signs today in the main Asian indices. Nikkei gained 1.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite added 1.3%.

On Wall Street, the market ended yesterday in the green. The S&P 500 (+0.9%), Nasdaq (+1.6%) and Dow Jones (+0.6%) closed higher.

5. Macroeconomic data

The main macroeconomic releases in Europe include UK retail sales, Spain's GDP, Germany's business expectations, and Italy's consumer confidence.

In the U.S. we will see consumer sentiment reading from the University of Michigan and new home sales numbers.

Follow the day's events on our economic calendar: https://uk.investing.com/economic-calendar/