Investors will hope for signs of how far borrowing costs will rise in the world's biggest economy on Wednesday when US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan gives his semi-annual testimony on the US economy to Congress.
A separate measure of the health of the US economy will come from the raft of quarterly reports from blue-chip companies in technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services.
Minutes from the Bank of England's July interest rate meeting and Germany's ZEW business confidence survey will be the major attractions on this side of the Atlantic. However, Standard Chartered foreign exchange strategist Marios Maratheftis insisted: "When Greenspan says something he moves markets. He will overshadow everything."
The Fed has steadily raised its Fed fund rate to 3.25 per cent from 1 per cent in June 2004 and some analysts anticipate further increases to about 4 per cent by year-end.
"He will give some hints on the direction of interest rates," Mr Maratheftis said.
The Bank of England's release of minutes from last week's monetary policy meeting on Wednesday could leave some investors exposed if the tone is less dovish than anticipated.
"The market has discounted the rate cut so much," Mellon Financial Corporation head of foreign exchange research Ian Gunner said. "If there is any doubt of a rate cut, sterling could benefit."
Euro-zone data due next week could show improvement in the bloc's economic outlook, analysts said. "We are expecting to see some signs of gradual recovery, which would be good news for the euro," Mr Maratheftis said.
