Markets were stunned twice in rapid fire at the end of last week. First, the Bank of Japan took everyone by surprise by the size and scope of its radical monetary easing measures, then a much lower-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls figure raised fear over the path of economic recovery in the US, coming on the heel of a number of weak data releases earlier in the week.
This week speeches by several Federal Reserve officials including the chairman, Ben Bernanke, and the release of the latest Fed minutes will bear close scrutiny. The Q1 earnings seasons also kicks off in the US with Alcoa reporting on Monday.