The Day at a Glance | August 18 2021

The Top

*The FED will publish its July meeting minutes.

*WTO indicator, which measures trade of goods at an international level, reached a record level (110.4) in the 2Q21; a sign of a solid recovery after the pandemic.

*Food prices have increased 331% in the last 12 months, according to the UN`s FAO.

*Mexico records 877 deaths by COVID19, the highest figure since April.

Economic environment

The FED`s meeting minutes. The FED`s most recent meeting minutes (July 27-28) will be made public this afternoon. The meeting minutes will shed light on the discussions had within the Federal Open Market Committee regarding the end of the emergency monetary programs implemented over a year ago to counter the pandemic-triggered crisis. Its members are in the process of coming up with a plan to reduce the asset purchasing program, which allocates 120 billion dollars per month in purchases of sovereign debt and mortgage instruments in markets; further details are expected to be provided in the FED`s meeting minutes. The Federal Reserve is also expected to formally announce the gradual withdrawal of the program in its September 21-22 meeting, although the rate at which this will be carried out is unknown – as well as what type of assets will stop being purchased first. All of the details could be revealed in the meeting minutes, or in next week`s Jackson Hole meeting. The economy has created 4.3 million jobs since December, which has led most of the FED`s members to consider it a sound option to start carrying out the withdrawal of stimuli sometime soon. The meeting minutes are also expected to show the members` concerns regarding inflation. Markets will look for greater clarity concerning tolerance limits on inflation – which remains above the bank`s target – and its implications for interest rates.