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The Week Ahead – Economic Data, Monetary Policy, and COVID-19 in Focus

By:
Bob Mason

Economic data and monetary policy will be in focus in the week ahead. Both the RBA and the BoE are in action. Expect FOMC member chatter to also draw attention.

Money world

In this article:

On the Macro

It’s quieter week ahead on the economic calendar, with 51 stats in focus in the week ending 6th August. In the week prior, 71 stats had also been in focus.

For the Dollar:

From the private sector, ISM Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing PMIs for July will be in focus.

Expect the Non-Manufacturing PMI due out on Wednesday to have the greatest impact.

On the labor market front, ADP nonfarm employment change and weekly jobless claims figures on Wednesday and Thursday will also influence.

Nonfarm payrolls at the end of the week, however, will be the key stat of the week.

In the week ending 30th July, the Dollar Spot Index fell by 0.79% to 92.174.

For the EUR:

It’s a busy week on the economic data front.

Private sector PMIs for Italy and Spain together with finalized numbers for France, Germany, and the Eurozone will influence.

Expect Italy and the Eurozone’s PMIs to be key in the week.

German and Eurozone retail sales figures will also influence, with consumption key to a sustainable economic recovery.

For the week, the EUR rose by 0.84% to $1.1870.

For the Pound:

It’s a relatively quiet week ahead on the economic calendar.

Finalized private sector PMIs for July are due out on Monday and Wednesday.

Expect any revisions to the services PMI to have a greater impact in the week.

Construction PMIs also due out, should have a muted impact, however.

While the finalized numbers will influence, the Bank of England monetary policy decision on Thursday will be the main event.

Last week, the IMF talked up the outlook for the British economy. It now rests in the hands of the BoE.

The Pound ended the week up by 1.13% to $1.3904.

For the Loonie:

It’s a busier week ahead on the economic calendar.

Trade data on Thursday and employment change figures on Friday will be the key numbers.

While trade figures will influence, expect the employment change figures to have a greater impact.

The Loonie ended the week up 0.71% to C$1.2475 against the U.S Dollar.

Out of Asia

For the Aussie Dollar:

Manufacturing sector data, building permits, retail sales, and trade data will be in focus.

Retail sales and trade data, due out on Wednesday and Thursday, will be the key stats of the week.

On the monetary policy front, however, the RBA monetary policy decision on Tuesday will be the main event.

The Aussie Dollar ended the week down by 0.30% to $0.7344.

For the Kiwi Dollar:

It’s a quiet week ahead. Mid-week, employment change figures will draw interest ahead of inflation expectation numbers on Friday.

With little else for the markets to consider in the week, expect both sets of numbers to provide direction. The markets are expecting a further pickup in inflationary pressures…

The Kiwi Dollar ended the week flat at $0.6974.

For the Japanese Yen:

Finalized private sector PMIs and Tokyo inflation figures will be in focus in the 1st half of the week.

Expect any revision to the PMIs to be of greater influence.

Late in the week, household spending figures will also draw interest.

The Japanese Yen rose by 0.75% to ¥109.720 against the U.S Dollar.

Out of China

It’s a busier day, with private sector PMIs to provide the markets with direction.

Following NBS numbers from the weekend, the market’s preferred Caixin manufacturing PMI will set the tone. Over the weekend, the NBS Manufacturing PMI fell from 50.9 to 50.4…

With service sector activity a greater component of the economy, Wednesday’s services PMI will also influence, however.

The Chinese Yuan ended the week up by 0.31% to CNY6.4614 against the U.S Dollar.

Geo-Politics

Russia and China continue to be the main areas of interest for the markets. News updates from the Middle East will also need continued monitoring…

About the Author

Bob Masonauthor

With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.

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