Investors will be watching plenty of US data this week, including Wednesday’s retail sales report, for more clues as to whether the Federal Reserve’s sharp rate hike is cooling off. The UK government will finally announce its new budget plan, and investors will be watching closely after the market collapse caused by September’s “mini-budget”. The aftermath of the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX will continue to reverberate through the cryptocurrency market. Meanwhile, economic data from China will be in focus after Beijing eased some of its strict pandemic-related restrictions on Friday, boosting hopes for a rebound in economic activity. Here’s what you need to know at the start of the week.

1. US data

Softer U.S. inflation data released last week reinforced expectations that the Fed would become less tight on rate hikes from December after 4 consecutive 75 basis point rate hikes.

Retail sales data for October, released on Wednesday, should give an indication of how U.S. consumers are doing ahead of the key holiday shopping season amid historically high inflation.

Economists expect the figure to rise 0.8%. The higher-than-expected reading could be seen as a sign that the Fed still has a lot of work to do to cool the economy.

The US will also release October data on producer price inflation, industrial production, housing starts and existing home sales. The housing data will likely show the continuing impact of rapid interest rate hikes this year.

2. Equity Market

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 8.1% last week, its biggest weekly percentage gain since March, while the S&P 500 gained 5.9% and the Dow added 4.15% on hopes of a less hawkish Fed stance.

“We’ve gotten a potential view that the Fed may not have to act as tightly as we thought in the last couple weeks,” Marvin Loh, senior global macroeconomic strategist at State Street in Boston, told Reuters. – Risk may stabilize.”

But the Fed is unlikely to be influenced by a single inflation report, and past hikes fueled by Fed-related optimism have collapsed this year after discouraging economic data or pushback from officials.

Worries about an economic downturn have hit the stock market this year. The S&P 500 Index is down about 16% for the year to date, the largest annual decline since 2008.

3. Cryptocurrency turmoil

Concerns about the viability of the crypto ecosystem continue to grow following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

The FTX exchange, which filed for bankruptcy on Friday, was engulfed in more chaos on Saturday when it claimed to have discovered unauthorized access and analysts reported that hundreds of millions of dollars in assets had been moved off the platform under “suspicious circumstances.”

On Sunday, rival exchange Binance stopped accepting deposits of the FTX token on its platform and urged other exchanges to do the same.

Investors are now waiting to gauge the extent of the “contagion” on cryptocurrency exchanges, which have already suffered this year as central banks have abandoned pandemic-era monetary policies.

4. UK Budget

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to announce the government’s new budget plan on Thursday, and the market will be watching closely after his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng’s September “mini-budget” collapsed sterling and forced the Bank of England to step in to stop a rout in the bond market.

Britain’s economy faces a likely prolonged recession as a cost-of-living crisis squeezes consumers’ wallets.

Hunt said that fixing the gaping hole in the public finances would require tax increases and spending cuts worth about 60 billion pounds (1 pound sterling = $1.1837) .

The UK will also release the latest data on inflation, employment and retail sales in the coming days.

The country’s inflation rate was 10.1% in September and is expected to rise to 10.6% for October on Wednesday, a likely peak given that energy prices are now fixed by the government until April.

5. China data

On Tuesday, China will release data for October on retail sales, industrial production, investment and employment. Economists expect this data to reflect the continuing impact of the government’s zero-tolerance policy.

The latest data showed unexpected declines in exports and imports, slowing inflation, a drop in new bank lending and a prolonged slump in real estate sales.

On Friday, Beijing said it would ease some restrictions on COVID-19, including reducing quarantine by 2 days for close contacts of infected people and for incoming tourists. This despite the number of cases on the mainland hitting a 6-month high and new restrictions in some major cities.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged Saturday to continue supporting the world’s second-largest economy with policy measures.