The crucial monthly employment data for the US will be released this week, and equities will start trading for the second quarter. As well as a meeting from the OPEC.

Stocks

Although a sharp selloff in bank equities after the failure of two smaller banks raised concerns about the possibility of a wider financial catastrophe, U.S. equity markets achieved robust gains in the first quarter.

Since 2020, the Nasdaq's greatest quarterly percentage rise was 16.8%. After an almost 20% decline in 2022, the S&P 500 also gained 7%, and the Dow Jones finished the quarter up 0.4%.

These increases, according to cautious investors, make equities more susceptible to an economic collapse, which may have been made more likely by recent turmoil in the banking industry.

OPEC

OPEC+ is expected to uphold its current agreement to reduce oil supply at a meeting on Monday, according to Reuters, after oil prices rose after falling to 15-month lows.

After dropping to almost $70 per barrel on March 20, Brent oil prices have increased around $80 as concerns about a global financial crisis have diminished and supplies have been constrained by a suspension of shipments from Iraq's Kurdistan region.

On Monday, the ministerial monitoring panel for OPEC+, which consists of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies led by Russia, is scheduled to convene a virtual meeting.

The following full OPEC+ meeting will not occur until June after those discussions.

As the majority of OPEC+ countries' economies rely substantially on oil revenue, falling oil prices are an issue for them.

Nonfarm payrolls

The nonfarm payrolls data on Friday will be closely watched by market experts for a new update on the condition of a labour market that has stayed solid over the last year despite a wave of rate rises by the Federal Reserve.

After a gain of 311,000 jobs in February, economists anticipate that the U.S. economy will have created 238,000 new jobs in March. The prediction for average hourly wages is 4.3%, which would be the weakest pace of growth since July 2021.

Other data

The economic calendar includes information on February job openings on Tuesday and March statistics on private sector hiring on Wednesday before Friday's crucial March employment report.

On Monday and Wednesday, respectively, the ISM purchasing manager's surveys of manufacturing and service sector activity are expected to be released.

In an effort to drive inflation back down to the bank's objective of 2%, Fed policymakers have suggested that they anticipate rates to stay around current levels for the remainder of this year.

After the recent instability in the banking sector, regulators will also need to consider the impact of rising interest rates on financial stability while inflationary pressures stay strong.

The Fed will release its final jobs report before its May meeting, and investors are divided about whether it will raise interest rates one final time.

Forecasts for a 25-basis point rate hike are likely to increase if employment growth rises over 200,000.

In order to help fight inflation, Fed officials have stated that they anticipate rates to stay around current levels for the remainder of this year.