Around 100 S&P 500 companies report earnings this week as the March quarter earnings season pace steps up. Reporting companies will see the first of the major tech stocks release results, a couple of banks, airlines, big manufacturers, a smattering of smaller financials, media stocks, energy-related stocks and drug companies.

First up in the week ahead will be the reaction today of yesterday’s oil producers meeting in Doha between OPEC and Russia and other non-OPEC producing countries.

At least 18 nations attended the Doha talks yesterday, including the world’s largest crude producers Russia and Saudi Arabia. The third largest, the US, was absent. It didn’t matter as the Saudis sank any deal.

Markets will be watching the fallout from yesterday’s oil producers’ meeting in Doha for its impact on investors in trading in Asian markets today.

China’s crude steel production hit a four year low in the March quarter, despite a rebound in output in March.

The Reserve Bank has been sceptical of the health of the labour market – the March jobs report, issued yesterday by the Bureau of Statistics provides more evidence of a cooling in the pace of growth.

Ratings group, Moody’s Investor Services has made a significant intervention in the local political and economic debate by warning that without revenue measures, the federal government’s aim of balancing the Federal Budget by 2021 is “unlikely”.

China boosted import volumes of some key commodities in March – specifically copper, iron ore and coal.

Freed of the distortions around the timing of the Lunar New Year, China’s foreign trade performance improved markedly in March.

Concerns over regulatory tightening in China on foreign goods hit the share prices of companies in that space on the ASX yesterday.

As expected the IMF has downgraded its forecasts for global economic growth in its latest World Economic Outlook, although unlike other forecasters, it nudged up its estimates of Chinese growth for this year and next.

A surge in oil prices to new 2016 highs on hopes of a deal to limit production at next Sunday’s meeting sparked a surge on Wall Street and other markets overnight.

The National Australia Bank’s latest business survey shows business conditions are back to their best since levels the GFC, continuing a trend that emerged midway through last year.

The World Bank has joined its Asian peer, the Asian Development Bank, in warning that China’s weak growth trajectory will hold back economic growth over the next couple of years. But if you exclude China, growth in the region could pick up a little.

Normally the quarterly earnings of US companies don’t matter much to us in Australia, except as an indicator of the health of the US or global manufacturing, finance (in the case of banks), media and tech (Apple and Netflix for example) or as a guide to demand.

No concerns from Chinese consumer inflation data for March, but producer price deflation remains intense, although it again eased a little last month.

Despite the weaker US dollar, oil futures ended Friday and last week sharply higher, boosted by hopes US production will continue to decline, and optimism about a positive outcome from next Sunday’s Opec production meeting.

China returns to the top of the global scare list this week, as does the oil industry – specifically that meeting of OPEC next Sunday.

Early tomorrow morning, our time, Alcoa kicks off the March quarter earnings reporting season.

Shares markets face a testing week with key Chinese economic data to be released, the looming fear of Japanese government intervention to try and halt the rise in the yen, the start of the US March quarter earnings season, and the expected slicing of world growth forecasts by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

It’s undeniable that gold has rallied strongly in 2016 – up 16.4% in the first quarter, which was mostly February and March with the momentum fading during March. That was especially so last week with the price rising 0.2% at best.

One of the leading global credit rating agencies has upped the ante on the evolving argument here over the quality of bank culture, warning it could impact the banks’ performance.

Local investors are heading into a down day today after realism, growth fears and worries about some of the world’s biggest banks combined to send markets lower overnight.

On the face of it, trading on the ASX today should be a continuation of yesterday’s rough passage, but there were signs late in the US trading session of a moderating of the trend, even though the US market turned lower.

As expected the Reserve Bank left interest rates steady yesterday, but did single out the higher value of the dollar for added comment, as some analysts had tipped it would.

Don’t be surprised if the Australian market drifts today after a less than positive ending to trading in New York this morning, thanks to the dipping oil price which dominated sentiment.