Next Week
January 28, 2011
Central banks in Australia, Euroland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Iceland, Indonesia and Mexico hold interest rate policy meetings in the week to February 4. The ECB monthly Bulletin and Australian quarterly Monetary Policy Statement are being published. A number of Asia markets including Singapore, Hong Kong and China will be closed Thursday to observe the start of the Lunar Year of the Rabbit. Wednesday is Groundhog’s Day, but Friday is the astronomical midpoint of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, a season that people living in the Eastern United States and Northern Europe will be delighted to see. A two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels will be held Thursday and Friday.
Various and sundry purchasing managers survey readings, some for manufacturing, others for services and still others for construction will be released next week. These reports continue to acquire more and more interest from policymakers and market participants. They are more forward-looking than most statistics and contain very comprehensive information on demand, output, inventories, price pressures and labor market conditions.
A number of euro area-wide figures are being reported: consumer prices, producer prices, retail sales and unemployment. Germany will release its own figures on the labor market and retail sales. French and Italian producer price data arrive, and so do Italian and Spanish CPI figures.
Britain’s data calendar next week includes the Halifax and Nationwide home price indices, mortgage approvals, mortgage lending, consumer credit, and M4 growth. Iceland, Hungary and Switzerland report trade figures, and Norway releases unemployment. Romanian and Czech retail sales are scheduled, too.
The list of U.S. releases is headed by the January labor force survey and the manufacturing and service-sector PMI reports. It also includes personal income and spending, the core personal consumption price deflator, factory orders, auto sales, quarterly growth in productivity and unit labor costs, construction spending, the mid-western regional PMIs, and the ADP estimate of private employment. In addition, weekly indicators on energy inventories, chain store sales, jobless insurance claims, consumer confidence, and mortgage applications will draw their usual keen interest from the marketplace.
Japan reports auto sales, industrial production, housing starts, construction orders and the monetary base.
Some other Asian releases of particular note are Indonesian and Indian trade figures, Filipino and Malaysian producer prices, Filipino GDP and consumer prices, Singapore unemployment, and Hong Kong retail sales.
In Canada, both the monthly GDP and labor force reports are scheduled. Producer prices, raw material prices, and the IVEY-PMI survey results also are due. Argentine industrial production and Brazilian trade data arrive, too.
Australia will be a busy market. Besides the quarterly Monetary Policy Statement and first RBA interest rate decision in two months (the central bank takes January off each year), scheduled data releases include private sector credit growth, the commodity price index, home prices, the NAB business sentiment index, a couple of PMI surveys, new home sales, auto sales, and building permits.
New Zealand will chime in with trade figures, building permits, M3 growth, average hourly earnings, unemployment and its own commodity price index. South Africa releases its trade balance, while Turkey reports both consumer and producer prices.
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2011. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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