Reserve Bank of Australia due at 0430 GMT.GMT. Prior to the announcement we get trade balance and retail sales at 0130GMT
Previews of the RBA:
More can be found here:
Trade balance preview:
Retail sales is due at 0130GM:
- expected +0.2% m/m,
- prior +0.8%
That huge result in February saw boosts from some one offs but maybe there was some resurgence in consumption mixed in there. Spending has been negatively impacted by high debt levels and slow wage growth. Neither of these changed in February so while the strong 0.8% rise is being seen as one off I'll be eyeing the data today to see if there is further strength, Having said this, consensus is sedate at 0.2% m/m.
Preview via Westpac:
- Retailers recorded a weak finish to 2018 sales volumes inching up just 0.1% for the final quarter, after a 0.2% increase in Q3. This proved to be a good guide to weakness in the wider consumer spending measure in the Q4 national accounts.
- The Q1 update is shaping as another soft read, albeit not quite as weak as the previous quarter. Nominal sales are tracking towards a 0.6% gain for the quarter, down slightly on the 0.7% gain in Q4. However, the Q1 CPI suggests retail prices have seen a much softer gain this quarter, the detail pointing to a retail price rise of around 0.3% vs 0.6% in Q4. That in turn implies slightly more of the nominal sales gain is due to volumes rather than prices. Overall we expect volumes to post a 0.3% gain for the quarter leaving annual growth at a dismal 1.6%yr pace
