The BOE monetary policy decision and euro area final manufacturing PMIs are the major highlights of the European morning
Sheer class...
Good day, everyone! Hope you're all doing well after yesterday's topsy turvy FOMC meeting where we saw the Fed stick with its patient message while cutting the IOER before Powell brushed aside slowing inflationary pressures as being transitory.
That helped push the dollar higher at the end of proceedings and the greenback is holding steady to begin the new day. So far, the yen is among the decent movers as it is holding slightly lower with USD/JPY moving up to test overnight highs but is now settling around the region of 111.55.
0600 GMT - Germany March retail sales data
Prior release can be found here. General indication of consumption in the German economy, which has been among the supportive factors helping alleviate pressure off the slumping industrial sector this year. A minor data point.
0630 GMT - Switzerland March retail sales data
Prior release can be found here. A gauge of retail/consumption activity in the Swiss economy. Low-tier data.
0730 GMT - Switzerland April manufacturing PMI
Prior release can be found here. An indication of manufacturing activity in the Swiss economy, which has fallen off rather sharply over the past few months. Nonetheless, Switzerland relies more on its services sector so the data here isn't really an impactful one.
0715 GMT - Spain April manufacturing PMI
0745 GMT - Italy April manufacturing PMI
0750 GMT - France April final manufacturing PMI
0755 GMT - Germany April final manufacturing PMI
0800 GMT - Eurozone April final manufacturing PMI
Final manufacturing prints for the month of April in the euro area. Major focus will remain on Germany to see if the sluggishness is more pronounced or not but generally speaking, as these are final readings their impact should be rather muted since we already know the gist of the story from the initial readings.
0830 GMT - UK April construction PMI
Prior release can be found here. With actual manufacturing activity - taking out the stockpiling effect - still rather subdued, the same is expected of the construction sector as well and the print here should confirm that. Brexit is still the major talking point for the pound so the print here isn't expected to offer much.
1100 GMT - BOE May monetary policy decision
1100 GMT - BOE releases its latest inflation report
The March meeting decision/statement can be found here with the February inflation report here. Given the more optimistic start to the year for the UK economy, the BOE could bump up its economic projections a little but at the end of the day any forecast or rate guidance will be subject to a smooth Brexit still. Hence, with Brexit uncertainty still at large and haven't really abated since the start of the year, the BOE hands remain tied and ultimately, that will remain their main message when reading between the lines.
1130 GMT - BOE governor Mark Carney press conference
I wouldn't expect anything hawkish to come from Carney and he should likely emphasise that the BOE's projections and future rate changes will still be subject to Brexit. In short, expect much of the same from Carney this time around.
1130 GMT - US April Challenger job cuts data
Prior release can be found here. The data provides information on the number of announced corporate layoffs by industry and region and acts as a general labour market indicator. A minor data point.
That's all for the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading!