Investors will be attentive this week to the publication of the minutes of the latest meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the United States Federal Reserve. In these documents, it is expected to find clarifications on the direction of monetary policy in the country during the coming months, especially regarding possible rate cuts.
The week will start this Monday with the publication of Germany’s production price index (PPI) for the month of April and with the holding of a 3, 6 and 12 month French debt auction. In Spain, the trade balance and consumer confidence will be announced.
The most notable event on Tuesday the 21st will be the appearance of the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, in addition to the data on the trade balance and the current account balance of the eurozone in March. On Wednesday the 22nd, several references from the United Kingdom will be announced, among which the CPI and the PPI for April stand out, while in Germany, France and Italy, the vehicle registration data will be known.
On Thursday the 23rd, the preliminary May reading of the Eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) will be published, and according to Singular Bank analysts, the composite leading indicator is expected to reach the top four economies in the Eurozone. expansion for the first time 12 months. Along with this data, the preliminary reading of consumer confidence in the euro zone will be known.
CMC Markets analyst Luis Francisco Ruiz has highlighted in statements to EFE that the PMIs are in an “expansion zone” and have been “recovering ground.” He has also referred to the wage gains published by the ECB and that they will determine what the inflationary pressures are, and regarding consumer confidence he has said that it has also been recovering positions “little by little.”
The week will end in Europe with the publication of the final reading of Germany’s first quarter GDP, Spain’s PPI and UK retail sales. Regarding the business results for the first quarter, in Spain those of Acciona and Grenergy stand out, which will be published on Thursday.
United States and Asia
In the US, all eyes will be on the publication of the FOMC minutes on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., with European stock markets closed. That same day, notable macroeconomic data will be released, such as weekly mortgage applications and the sale of second-hand homes in the month of April.
On Thursday the 23rd, unemployment claims, a four-week average, and the first reading of the composite PMI for May will be released. To end the week, the final reading of the University of Michigan Confidence Index for May will be released. The preliminary reading showed a significant drop in the economic sentiment of US consumers, which, however, was largely determined by a methodological change in the survey, as highlighted by Singular Bank.
Among the business results that will be published in the US next week, those of Nvidia stand out, on Wednesday, the leading company in artificial intelligence, with more than 2 trillion market capitalization, behind Apple and Microsoft, and which is expected, according to the CMC Markets analyst, “very large” growth in both income and profits.
In the Asia-Pacific region, in China the publication of the preferential loan from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) stands out on Monday, while that same day the service sector activity index will be released in Japan; on Wednesday, the trade balance; on Thursday, the manufacturing and services sector PMI, and on Friday, the CPI for the month of April.
In reference to China, Ruiz said that with an economy in deflation they have not lowered interest rates substantially and even so they have begun to recover ground, while in the case of Japan he recalled that the central bank is intervening to try avoid the depreciation of its currency, the yen.
