Next Week's Macro Outlook: U.S.-Israel-Iran Tensions Surge, Gold Nears a Critical Turning Point Here are the key points the market will focus on in the coming week: - **Monday**: G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, running through May 19. - **Tuesday 20:00**: Fed Governor Waller speaks at the ECB Research Conference. - **Tuesday 20:15**: U.S. ADP Employment Change for the week ending May 2. - **Wednesday 7:00**: 2026 FOMC voting member and Philadelphia Fed President Harker delivers remarks. - **Thursday 2:00**: Federal Reserve releases minutes from its monetary policy meeting. - **Thursday 20:30**: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending April 18, April Housing Starts (annualized), April Building Permits, and May Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index. - **Friday 22:00**: U.S. May Michigan Consumer Sentiment Final Index, Final One-Year Inflation Expectations, and April Conference Board Leading Index MoM. Reports suggest the U.S. and Israel may resume strikes on Iran as early as next week, putting gold bulls on the edge. Meanwhile, bond markets are buzzing with "rate hike" expectations as the final meeting minutes of the "Powell era" approach. Additionally, the AI boom and consumer spending under inflationary pressure remain the two key drivers shaping U.S. stock market trends. Next week, semiconductor giant NVIDIA ($NVDA) and retail heavyweight Walmart ($WMT), among others, will release their earnings reports, with the market set to conduct in-depth analysis around these two main themes. #Markets #Gold #AI #Inflation #NVIDIA #Walmart #FOMC #Finance #Investing