Trade talks, Fed meeting to guide markets this week

THE second round of US-China trade talks and the year's first US Federal Reserve meeting are set to dominate the news cycle in the week ahead, after concerns over the US government shutdown eased over the weekend.

US President Donald Trump last Friday signed a bill to end the partial government shutdown, at least temporarily. The three-week spending deal will pave the way for a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee to negotiate border security, although Mr Trump has said that if he is dissatisfied with the results, the shutdown will resume or he will declare a national emergency to bypass Congress for his funding.

The 35-day shutdown has taken its toll on several key agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, which struggled to get furloughed workers back in office last week ahead of the tax filing season starting on Monday; and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is unlikely to meet the original Jan 30 release date for the Q4 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) figures.