Weekly Market Movers: March 7-11

Rate decisions in New Zealand and the U.K., employment data in U.S., Canada and Australia, US Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment and many more await us this week. Here is an outlook on the market movers ahead.

US labor market is continuing to strengthen in light of last week’s ADP estimate. Companies produced 217,000 new jobs last month after a revised 189,000 gain in January. This positive outcome supports Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s testimony to Congress on March 1 saying there are “grounds for optimism” showing the job market is recovering.

New Zealand Rate Decision: Wednesday, 20:00. Following the volatility in oil prices due to the tension in the Middle East and in last week’s fatal and destructive Christchurch earthquake, it appears that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to cut the cash rate by 0.25% to 2.75% from 3.0% in the previous month. This cut is aimed to lift confidence in light of the halt in market activity.