Investors are keeping their powder dry ahead of the publication of US inflation data. The figures could be seen as a final indication of whether the US Federal Reserve is actually prepared to lower interest rates next Wednesday.
At the same time, the growing confidence in a major outcome in the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing is fueling the principle of hope on the markets. A failure of the talks or an intensification of the rhetoric could catch investors on the wrong foot at any time.
As expected, the reporting season on both sides of the Atlantic, which is continuing to gather pace, has also provided a talking point in recent days.
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Possible meeting between Trump and Xi gives investors hope in trade dispute
According to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, US President Donald Trump wants to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping next Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Community (Apec) meeting in South Korea. Two weeks ago, Trump had said that there no longer seemed to be any reason for a meeting with Xi. At the time, the US president had threatened to impose extra tariffs of 100 percent on Chinese imports in response to stricter controls on China's exports of rare earths.
US economic data still scarce due to partial government shutdown - German producer prices declining more slowly
Due to the continuing partial government shutdown in the United States, the economic data calendar for the US side was once again manageable.
German producer prices were published at the beginning of the week. Manufacturers of commercial products, ranging from food to industrial goods, took an average of 1.7% less than a year ago, according to the Federal Statistical Office. In August, the rate in question was minus 2.2%, the sharpest decline since May 2024.
„The main reason for the year-on-year decline in producer prices in September 2025 was once again lower energy prices,“ said the office.
Purchasing managers surprise - US counterparts in focus this afternoon
The Purchasing Managers' Index of the financial services provider S&P Global for the private sector of the German economy surprisingly gained momentum in October, growing at the fastest rate in around two and a half years.
This morning, the Purchasing Managers' Index for industry and service providers in the eurozone rose by a combined 1.0% to 52.2 points, according to the financial services provider S&P Global.
Meanwhile, this afternoon sees the publication of US consumer price data (14:30), which is likely to be watched with great interest. Due to the partial government shutdown in the US, this data was not published last week on Wednesday.
An inflation rate of 3.1% is expected compared to the same month last year, after 2.9% in August.
According to estimates, the core rate of inflation may have been 3.1 percent in the same period and thus unchanged.
Last but not least, there are various purchasing managers (S&P Global) to watch at 3:45 p.m. and check for economic indicators.
SAP with surprisingly high profit
SAP (ISIN: DE0007164600) reported a surprisingly high quarterly profit, which it said was due to cost discipline. However, growth in the cloud division has slowed. Adjusted for currency effects, revenues in the cloud business increased by 27 percent, following a rise of 28 percent in the previous quarter. SAP announced that it expects revenue for the year as a whole to be at the lower end of the targeted range of 21.6 to 21.9 billion euros.
SAP
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