By Laura Sanchez
Investing.com - It's the appointment of the week. This Wednesday we will know the minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
Luis de Guindos, Vice President of the European Central Bank (ECB), also speaks today.
Oil is mixed this morning.
Cryptocurrencies fall.
Here are the five factors investors should consider when making their decisions today:
1. Fed minutes
This Wednesday, at 20:00 local time, we will know the minutes of the Fed's last monetary policy meeting.
We will be watching to see if there is any news regarding the rate hike forecast for the May meeting, even by 50 basis points, as the market is already starting to suspect.
2. De Guindos speaks
At 9:00 local time, Luis de Guindos, vice-president of the ECB, is scheduled to speak.
3. Cryptocurrencies, on the decline
The cryptocurrency sector is trading in the red on Wednesday. Bitcoin is trading at 45,000 dollars and Ethereum at 3,300.
4. Asia and the American stock market
The main Asian indices are negative today. Nikkei falls 1.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.3% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.1%.
On Wall Street, the market also ended yesterday in the red. The S&P 500 (-1.2%), Nasdaq (-2.2%) and Dow Jones (-0.8%) closed lower.
5. Macroeconomic data
The main macroeconomic releases include German factory orders and IHS Markit construction PMI, UK construction PMI, Spanish consumer confidence andEuro zone PPI.
In the US, crude oil inventories will be released by the IEA.
JSE All Share index declined 0.7% to close at 75,286.61.
Follow the day's events on our economic calendar: https://ca.investing.com/economic-calendar/