This week has been filled with major macroeconomic releases from Europe and the US, giving investors plenty to digest about the state of the global economy and possible next steps from central banks.
France:
● At 10:00 a.m. GMT, unemployment data for March was released. The total number of unemployed stood at 3.189 million, 29,000 lower than both the forecast and the previous figure.
United States:
● At 2:00 p.m. GMT, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for April was published. The reading came in at 86.0, which was 1.7 points below forecast and 7.9 points lower than the previous value.
● At the same time, the JOLTS report for March showed the number of job openings at 7.192 million, 298,000 below forecast and 288,000 lower than the prior figure.
Germany:
● At 8:00 a.m. GMT, Germany’s Q1 GDP data (quarter-over-quarter) was released. The result was 0.2%, matching the forecast and improving by 0.4% over the previous figure.
Eurozone:
● At 9:00 a.m. GMT, Q1 GDP data (quarter-over-quarter) for the Eurozone was published. The reading was 0.4%, beating the forecast by 0.2% and surpassing the previous value by the same margin.
Germany:
● At 12:00 p.m. GMT, Germany’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April (month-over-month) was released. The figure came in at 0.4%, which was 0.1% higher than both the forecast and the prior reading.
United States:
● At 12:15 p.m. GMT, the ADP non-farm payrolls report for April showed 62,000 new jobs, falling short of the forecast by 52,000 and dropping 85,000 from the previous month.
● At 12:30 p.m. GMT, Q1 US GDP (quarter-over-quarter) was released, showing a contraction of -0.3%, which was 0.5% worse than forecast and 2.7% below the previous figure.
● At 2:00 p.m. GMT, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index for March (month-over-month) came in at 0.0%, missing the forecast by 0.1% and down 0.5% from the prior figure.
● At the same time, the Annual Core PCE Price Index for March was published at 2.6%, matching expectations but 0.4% lower than the previous reading.
● At 2:30 p.m. GMT, US crude oil inventory data was released, showing a drawdown of -2.696 million barrels, 3.086 million worse than forecast and 2.940 million below the previous figure.
Japan:
● At 3:00 a.m. GMT, the Bank of Japan announced its interest rate decision. The rate remained unchanged at 0.50%, in line with both the forecast and the previous level.
United States:
● At 12:30 p.m. GMT, initial jobless claims data were released. The figure came in at 241,000, 17,000 higher than forecast and up 18,000 from the prior week.
● At 1:45 p.m. GMT, the Manufacturing PMI for April was published, standing at 50.2, 0.5 points below forecast, and equal to the previous value.
● At 2:00 p.m. GMT, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for April was released. The reading came in at 48.7, 0.7 points above the forecast, but 0.3 below the previous result.
Eurozone:
● At 9:00 a.m. GMT, the Annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April was published. 0.1% above the forecast, and equal to the previous value.
United States:
● At 12:30 p.m. GMT, average hourly earnings data for April (month-over-month) will be released. The forecast is 0.3%, unchanged from the previous reading.
● At the same time, non-farm payrolls data for April is due (forecast 133,000 vs. previous 228,000), along with the unemployment rate, which is expected to remain steady at 4.2%.
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