A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from

Vidya Ranganathan

A weekend election in Japan that has knocked the yen

down to three-month lows, a heavy U.S. corporate earnings

calendar, Britain's budget and the fast-approaching U.S.

election make for a week packed with excitement.

The yen is down and Japanese shares are up

after Japan's ruling coalition lost its parliamentary majority

in weekend elections, raising the spectre of drawn-out political

wrangling and more fiscal stimulus.

Markets are also betting politics will make the Bank of

Japan's job more difficult, with policy normalisation already

complicated by a fragile economy and unstable markets. It is

expected to stand pat at its meeting ending on Thursday.

Monday is thin on economic data releases but the week

ahead brings eurozone third-quarter GDP and inflation that may

validate the European Central Bank's dovishness.

Britain's new Labour government unveils its first budget

on Wednesday, and investors have sold UK stocks and gilts

already in the run-up, unsure how finance minister Rachel Reeves

can possibly balance high debt, public spending pledges and a

promise not to hike the income tax.

It's also peak earnings season on Wall Street. This week

will be the busiest of the quarter with well over 150 S&P 500

companies set to post third-quarter results.

Five of the "Magnificent Seven" U.S. titans report: Google

parent Alphabet on Oct. 29, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and

Facebook parent Meta Platforms ( META ) on Oct. 30, and Apple ( AAPL )

and Amazon ( AMZN ) on Oct. 31.

The run of market-sensitive events continues the following

week, with U.S. election Day on Nov. 5 and the Fed's next

monetary policy decision on Nov. 7, which could put investors

increasingly on edge in the coming days.

The U.S. jobs report on Nov. 1 is just as crucial to

investors debating if a stronger-than-expected economy could

lead to fewer interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve than

what is already priced in.

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

SPEAKERS: ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos speaks in

Madrid

EARNINGS: Koninklijke Philips NV