It'll be another holiday-shortened week, with markets closed on Monday in New Zealand, Australia and the UK (while the US market will open as normal on Monday). The highlight will be the March jobs report in the US, while the latest ISM indices are also due (on Monday and Wednesday). If the flash PMIs for the same period are anything to go by, we might see an improvement across the manufacturing sector this month. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will be giving a speech at Stanford on Wednesday, with expectations for a June rate cut still sitting at around 70%. Last week Powell noted said "we can be careful about this decision with the labour market and economy strong", noting that "we don't need to be in a hurry to cut", so this speech will be closely monitored for further comments. Here in New Zealand, with the results of another dairy auction and the latest building permits the only releases of note. Markets are looking ahead to next week's Reserve Bank of New Zealand decision, with an Official Cash Rate cut in August now fully priced.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.