Traditional markets in the US are closed on Monday for Memorial Day, but a big flow of economic data will follow during the rest of the week ahead.

Trade war fears returned to the markets late last week with Donald Trump stirring the pot again, threatening phone makers and the European Union. This resulted in a slide in tech stocks and crypto markets following Bitcoin’s all-time high last week.

On Sunday, Trump agreed to delay 50% EU tariffs until July 9, easing some tension, albeit temporarily.

Economic Events May 26 to 30

Tuesday will see consumer confidence data released, which reflects sentiment and consumer spending power.

The Federal Reserve will hold its May minutes meeting on Wednesday, which could provide further context on the central bank’s rate-cut expectations. No surprises are expected, but investors are speculating whether rate cuts might come in the second half of 2025.

Thursday will see the Q1 GDP Growth Annualized report released, providing more insight into economic growth figures for the first three months of 2025. The advance estimate showed that actual GDP decreased at an annualized rate of 0.3%.

Friday will see April’s Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report, tracking inflation based on consumer spending (excluding food and energy). PCE reports are used by the Fed as a primary gauge of inflation.

Key Events This Week:

1. US Markets Closed Memorial Day Monday

2. CB Consumer Confidence data Tuesday

3. Fed Meeting Minutes Wednesday

4. US Q1 2025 GDP data Thursday

5. April PCE Inflation data Friday

6. MI Consumer Sentiment data Friday

We have a short but…

May’s Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Inflation Expectations preliminary readings are due on Friday, summarizing consumer confidence and long-term inflation expectations.

It is also a big earnings week with all eyes on Nvidia, which reports on Wednesday, and strong figures from the chipmaker could impact AI token prices.

Crypto Market Outlook

Crypto markets have gained during the Monday morning trading session in Asia following Trump’s extension of the tariff deadline for Europe.

Total capitalization was $3.56 trillion, which has kept it within a sideways channel that formed a fortnight ago when Bitcoin lifted off.

BTC has cooled from its May 22 all-time high of $111,814 and fell to $107,000 on Sunday before making a slight recovery. The asset had recovered to reclaim $109,500 on Monday morning.

Ethereum slid below $2,500 on Sunday and was making minor progress above it at the time of writing. However, the asset’s price movements have been muted in comparison to BTC.

The altcoins were largely in the green on Monday morning, with slightly better gains for Solana and Cardano, while Hyperliquid had surged more than 14% on the day.