Key Economic Indicators to Watch Amid Rising Stagflation Concerns

PANews posted on X (formerly Twitter). As geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate, market volatility has surged, driven by uncertainty about future economic directions. Recent data indicates that the Federal Reserve faces the challenge of addressing rising inflation and declining employment to mitigate the risk of stagflation. Here are the key economic indicators to watch in the coming week (all times in UTC+8): On Monday at 23:00, the U.S. will release the February New York Fed's one-year inflation expectation. On Wednesday at 20:30, the U.S. will announce the February unadjusted annual CPI and core CPI rates, along with the seasonally adjusted monthly CPI and core CPI rates. Friday will see a series of important releases, starting at 15:00 with the UK's January three-month GDP monthly rate, January manufacturing/industrial output monthly rate, and January seasonally adjusted goods trade balance. At 20:30, the U.S. will release the January core PCE price index annual/monthly rates, January personal spending monthly rate, revised Q4 annualized GDP growth rate, and January durable goods orders monthly rate. Finally, at 22:00, the U.S. will report January JOLTs job openings, March preliminary one-year inflation rate expectations, and March preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. The focus next week will be on Wednesday's February CPI release and Friday's January PCE data. If the core CPI and core PCE price index monthly rates exceed expectations, it could further support the U.S. dollar. Conversely, weaker data might weigh on the dollar and boost spot gold prices. Additionally, the Q4 earnings season remains active, with attention on Oracle's (ORCL.N) earnings report next week.