Week Ahead | Eurozone Inflation and GDP Figures in Spotlight

14th May 2018 – 18th May 2018

Monday

• USD Speeches from FOMC members

Quite start to the week as there are no data releases scheduled. Importance will be given to two speeches from FOMC members Bullard and Mester.

Tuesday

• EUR Gross Domestic Product, ZEW Survey, Industrial Production
• GBP Average Earnings, ILO Unemployment Rate & Claimant Count
• USD Retail Sales

An important day for the Euro, as Euro zone GDP figures will be released. Early morning, we will see Germany, the power house of the European economy releasing their GDP figures for the first quarter along with economic surveys which indicates the consumer confidence in the German economy. Then the focus shifts to UK with the release of several reports related to UK employment.

Euro zone will release their GDP figures for the first quarter along with Industrial Production figures from month of march. The day will come to an end with the release of US Retail Sales figures for the month of April. The report is predicted to show a rise of 0.4% in headline sales and an increase of 0.5% in core retail sales which would provide further support to dollar.

Wednesday

• EUR Consumer Price Index
• USD Housing Starts, Building Permits and Industrial Production

Another important day for Euro as April Inflation figures for Euro zone will be released. Investors will be hoping the euro can stage a recovery if the figures are better than expectations. The final half of the day belongs to US with the release of housing data and industrial figures. The housing figures will show how many new single-family homes or buildings were constructed along with the number of permits for new construction projects.

Thursday

• AUD Unemployment Rate, Employment Change & Unemployment Rate
• USD Initial Jobless Claims, Continuing Jobless Claims and FOMC Members Kashkari Speech

Australia will release key data related to employment. The figures will be scrutinized by investors for further support to Aussie dollar. from USA we will see the release of two mid-tier reports related to jobs. The reports will indicate the unemployment situation in USA for the first week of May. Neil Kashkari, an FOMC member is scheduled to make a speech. His speech will be scrutinized for any rate hike assumptions from his end.

Friday

• CAD Retail Sales and Consumer Price Index
• USD FOMC Member Mester Speech & Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count

Canada is to release Retail Sales figures for the month of march along with Inflation figures for the month of April. The figures will be scrutinized by markets for fresh hints as the Canadian jobs report disappointed and sent the Loonie lower last week.

From US, two speeches are scheduled from FOMC members Mester and Baker. The week will come to an end with the release of Baker Hughes US Oil Rig count report.