Americas. The US Federal Reserve is expected to maintain interest rates at their current levels for a fifth consecutive meeting next Wednesday, amidst a still-strong labor market and a gradual slowdown in inflationary pressures. Investors will closely scrutinize FOMC's economic forecasts and the so-called 'dot plot' interest rate projections for further clues on the potential timing of any interest rate cuts, especially after this week's hotter-than-expected CPI and PPI figures prompted traders to moderate their expectations for future rate cuts.The March PMI survey is expected to signal a slight slowdown in the manufacturing sector's growth, after the strongest expansion since July 2022 was recorded in February. Additionally, the service sector's pace of expansion is seen decelerating slightly for a 2nd month. Meanwhile, housing starts will likely rebound to 1.447 million from January's five-month low, and building permits should increase to 1.5 million, their highest level since last August. Existing home sales, on the other hand, are expected to decline to 3.94 million in February from the previous month's 4.0 million. Other key data releases to follow include Q4 current account, homebuilder sentiment, and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index. Elsewhere in America, Brazil's central bank is expected to deliver its sixth consecutive 50bps rate cut, lowering its key Selic rate to 10.75% and Canada will release data on the inflation rate, retail trade, and new housing prices.

Europe. In the UK, the Bank of England is expected to hold rates steady at 5.25% next Thursday, while a rate cut is anticipated in August. February's headline inflation likely rose by 0.7% month-on-month, resulting in a year-on-year slowdown to 3.6%, the lowest since September 2021. Traders are also waiting for data on S&P Global PMIs, GfK consumer confidence, producer prices, retail trade, public sector net borrowing, and CBI factory orders. Also, central banks in Switzerland, Norway, and Turkey will decide on interest rates. S&P Global PMIs are expected to indicate a stabilization of private sector business activity in the Eurozone in March, with manufacturing shrinking less and services expanding. However, Germany and France are still set to show a contraction in services activity. Meanwhile, consumer confidence in the Euro Area is likely to hit highest since February 2022. In Germany, the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment is projected to reach a 13-month high, while the Ifo Business Climate indicator is expected to improve for the third consecutive month. 

Asia and Australia. In Japan, the BoJ is expected to put an end to its negative interest rate policy after annual labour resulted in major firms agreeing to strong pay rises. Traders will also be closely monitoring inflation figures, flash PMIs, exports and imports, the Reuters Tankan index, and final industrial production numbers. Meanwhile, in China, the People's Bank of China is expected to keep the 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates unchanged. Economic updates on industrial production, retail sales, and fixed asset investment will shed light on the country's performance in the first two months of the year, with indications pointing to a slowdown in industrial production and retail sales while fixed asset investment is projected to show a slight increase. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, investors will follow closely India flash PMIs, interest rate decisions in Pakistan and Indonesia, Malaysia's trade balance, Taiwan's export orders, Hong Kong's inflation rate. Finally, Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to maintain interest rates steady for a third straight meeting, despite concerns of slowing growth. Labour data and flash Judo Bank PMIs will also be on the agenda in Australia.