The world's central bankers met at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium last week for a three-day international conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech is the most anticipated event to come out of the conference each year, and this year he reiterated the message that the bank is prepared to lift the funds rate further if needed, and that policy will remain restrictive until the Fed sees convincing evidence that inflation is heading towards the two per cent target.
While Powell's speech was as expected by most, it does differ significantly to the hawkish speech he presented at last year's symposium.
European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde's speech was the other major event to watch and, similarly to Powell, the ECB president did not deviate from any previous rhetoric.
Lagarde acknowledged that Europe is within an "era of uncertainty" while noting that central banks must act as an anchor for the economy to ensure price stability.
The lack of any major surprises from Powell's speech left market expectations for the Fed funds rate mostly unchanged.
Market pricing for a rate rise in September's federal open market committee meeting are sitting at a 20pc chance of a 25bps hike.
The US Treasury curve flattened on the day, primarily driven by an uptick in front end yields. To commodity markets, iron ore was the clear outperformer closing up 6.65pc over the week.
Zinc also saw some solid gains, up 3.59pc over the week.
Both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent Oil were softer over the week with WTI down 1.75pc and Brent 0.38pc in the negative.
Across equity markets, last week the S&P500 climbed 0.82pc while the NASDAQ cleared all major international indices closing on Friday up 2.26pc for the week.
Meanwhile European shares also saw some gains with London's FTSE100 up 1.05pc and the Eurostoxx 600 rallied by 0.66pc.
Chinese markets continue to struggle with the CSI 300 declining over the week by 1.98pc.
Investors are likely still waiting for a meaningful stimulus to be announced by the Chinese government.
Over the weekend Chinese data continued to disappoint with industrial profits for July falling 6.7pc from the year earlier.
- This article does not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before acting on any advice contained in this article, you should assess whether it is appropriate in light of your own financial circumstances or contact your financial adviser. Christopher Hindmarsh is an adviser at JBWere Limited. JBWere Limited AFSL 341162.
