The Week Ahead – U.S and Chinese Economies and COVID-19 in Focus

On the Macro

It’s a particularly quiet week ahead on the economic calendar, with 14 stats in focus in the week ending 31^st December. In the week prior, 32 stats had been in focus.

For the Dollar:

Consumer confidence figures for December will be key on Tuesday along with jobless claims on Thursday.

Other stats include trade data, Chicago PMI numbers, and housing sector figures. These are unlikely to draw too much attention, however.

In the week ending 24^th December, the Dollar Spot Index fell by 0.57% to 96.019.

For the EUR:

At the start of the week, French jobseeker total figures will be the key stat of the day. With many European majors closed, however, impact on the EUR will likely be limited.

Prelim December inflation figures for Spain will be in focus on Thursday. Expect any further pickup in inflationary pressure to deliver EUR support.

For the week, the EUR rose by 0.70% to $1.1319.

For the Pound:

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

There are no major stats to provide direction, leaving the Pound in the hands of COVID-19 news in the week.

The Pound rallied by 1.06% to end the week at $1.3386.

For the Loonie:

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

There are no material stats due out of Canada to provide the Loonie with direction. The lack of stats will leave the Loonie in the hands of crude oil prices and market risk sentiment.

The Loonie ended the week up 0.57% to C$1.2815 against the U.S Dollar.

Out of Asia

For the Aussie Dollar:

There are no material stats due out of Australia to provide the Aussie Dollar with direction.

The Aussie Dollar rallied by 1.35% to $0.7221.

For the Kiwi Dollar:

There are also no material stats to provide the Kiwi Dollar with direction.

The Kiwi Dollar ended the week up by 1.17% to $0.6818.

For the Japanese Yen:

Retail sales figures for November will be on focus on Monday ahead of prelim industrial production figures on Tuesday.

While both data sets will draw plenty of interest, the influence on the Japanese Yen will be limited at best.

The Japanese Yen fell by 0.58% to ¥114.380 against the U.S Dollar.

Out of China

Private PMI numbers will be the key stats of the week. On Friday, the NBS private sector PMIs for December will influence market risk sentiment. The manufacturing PMI will be the key stat of the day.

The Chinese Yuan ended the week up by 0.12% to CNY6.3677 against the U.S Dollar.

Geo-Politics

Nothing new to consider in the week ahead, with China and Capitol Hill and Russia continuing to be the key areas of focus.

COVID-19

News updates on the Omicron strain and vaccines will be a key area focus.