A quiet economic calendar coupled with holidays in North America and much of Asia have left markets struggling for direction in recent days. A noteworthy development, nevertheless, was this week’s FOMC minutes which revealed concerns among some members about reducing US policy rates too soon. In our charts this week we home in on the following:

·       Market expectations for Fed policy

·       Inflation surprises and energy prices

·       High frequency gauges of labour market activity

·       Wage inflation in the euro area

·       South Korea’s semiconductor trade

·       Social progress in the world economy