A busy week of local and international data notably from the US and China will provide plenty of fodder for investors to weigh in markets this week.
Futures pricing has the market opening slightly lower on Monday morning, down 0.2 per cent or 9 points despite positive sessions in Europe and the US on Friday. The S&P;/ASX 200 Index finished Friday flat and down 0.6 per cent for the week.
While the market failed to move decisively in either direction this month, the trend towards trading on the news flow has favoured one type of investor over another, Suncorp head of treasury research Darryl Conroy said.
"Those adept at the fast-paced momentum type trading [have] succeeded at hopping – trading both the long and short side – from one news story to the next, thereby leaving traditional long only investors feeling helpless on the sidelines," he said.
The US presidential election and Federal Reserve meeting remain the headline events heading into year's end and data this week including inflation and initial jobless claims will be closely watched. Retail sales data in September, released on Friday, showed at 0.6 per cent rise for the month, further strengthening the case for a rate hike, however a speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen on the same day gave few clues to the board's thinking.
The third and final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in Las Vegas will be held Thursday morning Australian time, as a poll at the weekend gave Clinton a 95 per cent chance at winning the election next month.
US third quarter earnings results will also draw attention at the company level. Among those reporting profits this week are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, General Electric, Daimler, Intel and BlackRock.
It's also a big week for data from China, with third quarter GDP, September industrial production and retail sales on deck. Economists are expecting a positive read for all three, with GDP tipped to remain stable at 6.7 per cent year on year, while industrial production should lift from 6.3 per cent to 6.4 per cent and retail sales from 10.6 per cent to 10.7 per cent.
China returned to the forefront of investors minds last week following disappointing trade numbers which sparked fears of a pick up in the pace of China's economic slowdown, resulting in an accompanying flight to safety, Mr Conroy said.
"However, the reality that investors still need a return saw a wash of money flow back into yielding assets," he said, which added support to the Australian dollar, which firmed into the weekend to US76.19¢ despite the US dollar hitting a seven-month high against a basket of major currencies.
Locally, on Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia releases the minutes from its October policy meeting and on the same day new governor Philip Lowe delivers a speech at the Citi Australia and New Zealand investment conference in Sydney.
The big ticket local economic data comes on Thursday with labour force data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists forecast 15,000 jobs were added in September, a positive turnaround from the previous month's 3900 fall, but the unemployment rate is expected to tick up from a three year low of 5.6 per cent to 5.7 per cent.
"There is also the impact of employment associated with the Census to be considered, with delays in filling out the Census likely to have prolonged Census-related employment into September, another positive risk factor," National Australia Bank senior economist David de Garis said.
Also on Thursday, the European Central Bank meets for its October policy meeting, however economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect no change to its quantitative easing program, with a decision on its bond buying program beyond March 2017 more likely in December.