Main Macro Events This Week
The escalating trade war remained the dominant negative force in the markets the past couple of weeks, along with OPEC fine tuning its supply constraints. Heading into quarter-end, centrifugal forces on trade, immigration, policy, growth and inflation will continue to stretch investor patience. One last flurry of inputs and risks will be mulled as we cross the threshold into Q3.
United States: The US economic calendar will be highlighted by the Personal Income and Consumption Report, which should register solid growth in May. We’ll also get the final Q1 GDP reading, which is expected to show moderate improvement from the Q1 second estimate. Yet focus has shifted to the Q2 reading, which should show a strong rebound in spending and growth. Also of interest will be Consumer Confidence and Michigan Sentiment, which should confirm that consumers continue to perceive economic and market conditions as positive. Durable Goods orders may decline, while New Home Sales should show modest improvement in May. The following week’s calendar to kick off July will include key June data, with payrolls expected to record a solid 195k increase.
Fedspeak resumes with Dallas Fed hawk Kaplan (Tuesday) Q&A and Atlanta Fed dove Bostic in an armchair chat on civil rights. Fed VC for supervision Quarles will discuss “International Regulatory Participation and Cooperation” (Wednesday) and Boston Fed hawk Rosengren will mull “Is the Economy Too Sensitive to Economic Downturns?” St. Louis Fed dove Bullard will take part (Thursday) in a discussion on the US Economy and Monetary Policy.
Canada: BoC events dominate the docket this week: a speech by Governor Poloz to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce (Wednesday) will be the final outing for a BoC official ahead of the July 11 rate announcement. An economy running near potential, 2% CPI and a 40-year low jobless rate are consistent with the Bank delivering on the signals from the May announcement and progress report that pointed to a near term rate hike. But recent data has undershot expectations, notably April retail sales and May CPI. We still expect a 25 basis point increase in July, but the likelihood has been trimmed in recent weeks due to the data. Another rate hike is penciled in this year (expected to happen in October) but uncertainty over NAFTA further clouds the policy outlook past July.
The Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey for Q2 (Friday) is expected to show an economy still running near potential, with inflation expectations at well inside the Bank’s 1-3% target range and perhaps a downtick in the outlook for future sales due to trade uncertainty.
Europe: A busy week is in store that brings key confidence indicators as well as preliminary inflation data for June. At the same time, political uncertainties remain high with the immigration question dividing not just the German government, but turning into a test of the wider European Union just as heads of states prepare for the crucial June 29-30 summit on Brexit.
The recently revamped Ifo Business Climate Index (Monday) now also incorporates Services Sentiment, which is expected to help the overall Business Climate Index to remain stable at 102.0, unchanged from the previous month and with the expectations reading seen falling only marginally to 98.2 from 98.5. Similarly, the ESI Economic Confidence reading (Thursday) is expected to come in just slightly weaker at 112.0, down from 112.5 in May. Preliminary Consumer Confidence came in weaker than expected and together with an expected dip in industrial confidence is likely to draw the index down. Preliminary Inflation readings meanwhile are likely to see the Eurozone HICP rate (Friday) reaching 2.0% in June, the upper limit of the ECB’s definition of price stability. The German rate (Thursday) is expected to lift to 2.3% from 2.2%. PMI surveys seem to be backing this up and despite the recent slowdown, job creation continues and unemployment continues to decline. German Jobless numbers (Friday) are seen falling a further -5K, leaving the jobless rate at a very low 5.2%.
UK: Last week’s BoE policy meeting was unexpectedly impactful, with the minutes showing an increased rank of three MPC members calling for a 25 bp hike in the repo rate, more than the two expected. Although still outnumbered to the tune of six, the dissenters have put a rate hike as soon as November back on the table. The minutes showed that most members are overlooking the recent economic soft patch, although the majority still want to see more data. In its May Inflation Report, the BoE made it clear that declining spare capacity and low productivity growth meant that gradual and measured monetary tightening will be warranted.
The calendar this week brings the June CBI Retail Sales survey (Tuesday), and the June Gfk Consumer Confidence survey, 3rd release Q1 GDP, Q1 Current Account figures and the BoE’s monthly report on lending and monetary supply (all due on Friday).
Japan: The May Services PPI (Tuesday) is seen cooling to 0.8% y/y, after nearly doubling to 0.9% in April from 0.5% in March. May Retail Sales (Thursday) should be unchanged at 1.5% y/y overall, as they were in April. Friday’s heavy release schedule includes June Tokyo CPI, which is expected at an unchanged 0.4% y/y pace overall. May Unemployment is forecast at a steady 2.5%. Preliminary May Industrial Production is estimated to have fallen 0.8% versus the 0.5% increase in April, which would cap 3 months of solid gains. June Consumer Confidence should slip to 43.0 from 43.9, while May Housing Starts are set to post a 5.0% y/y contraction versus the prior 0.3% pace previously. May Construction Orders are also on tap.
Australia: The Reserve Bank of Australia’s Head of Payments Policy Tony Richards speaks (Tuesday) at the Australian Business Economists event on cryptocurrencies. The sparse data calendar has May private sector credit on Friday.
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Andria Pichidi
Market Analyst
HotForex
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