Eurozone
The German ZEW economic sentiment index data will be released tomorrow with forecasts pointing to a jump of around a 5% raise. German Consumer Price data will also be released tomorrow but with little or no change expected. The Eurozone, on the other hand will be releasing GDP estimates this week with an expected rise of 0.4% for the quarter with the focus remaining on data from Germany and France. The uptick in the GDP could see some positive cheer for the Euro after growth was quite slow last year. The recent data from Germany adds to the positive outlook as expectations rise that growth is slowly returning to the region.
UK Employment
The UK unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 3.9% amid a slight decrease on average non-bonus earnings. The UK’s monthly labour market data will be coming out tomorrow marking a modest decline on salaries. The data will once again come into focus once the Brexit uncertainty is moved back to the background which is not expected to be the case until at least the upcoming EU elections taking place on the 23rd of May.
Australia
Labour market data will also be coming in this week from Australia. Economists forecast that wages grew at a pace of 0.6% on the quarter, an increase compared to the previous quarter’s growth rate of 0.5%. Focus though is on the monthly unemployment report due on Thursday forecast to increase slightly at 5.1%. The monthly employment change is expected to increase by 14k marking a slower pace of job gains compared to 27.5k reported the month before. Federal elections are also taking place on Saturday.
US-Sino trade
Another week begins with concerns that the U.S. and China are some distance from agreeing any kind of trade deal which has been a disappointment for markets since only a couple of weeks ago the deal between the world’s largest economies seemed to be on sight. US President Donald Trump said China should get a deal done now because the terms will be a lot worse if he wins re-election in 2020 with China responding it will "never surrender" but without mentioning what retaliations it will implement if the US goes ahead with the 25% tariffs affecting about 300 billion USD worth of goods. Hence, another wave of market volatility is anticipated to come as traders flee higher-risk stocks for the safety of gold and the yen.
Tuesday:
06:00 EUR German Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices
08:30 GBP Unemployment Rate and Average Earnings excluding bonus.
09:00 EUR ZEW Survey – German Economic Sentiment
Wednesday:
09:00 EUR Gross Domestic Product
12:30 USD Retail Sales Control Group
12:30 CAD BoC Consumer Price Index Core
Thursday:
01:30 AUD Unemployment Rate
12:30 CAD BoC’s Governor Poloz speech
Friday:
14:00 USD Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index
Saturday:
AUD Federal Election
(*Times above are in GMT)
