Quiet week ahead, but watch out for EM currencies

THE start of October will bring relatively few surprises for the local equity market, with few major announcements expected throughout the first week of the month in comparison to the relative hubbub of the previous week over the US Fed's rate hike.

In a somewhat drama-free week for the Singapore market, first off the bat will be the release of third-quarter URA private home sales data on Monday . Following that, expect the September official purchasing managers index (PMI) to be out on Tuesday, with the Nikkei Singapore PMI to be released the day after.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is widely expected to keep its policy rate unchanged at 1.5 per cent, but the Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise the repo rate and reverse repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 6.75 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively, while keeping its cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4 per cent, UOB said in its note.