Week Ahead - Preview: 9 to 13 July 2018
Once again the week ahead is a showdown between the overarching themes of political instability/risk and trade tensions/wars and on the other hand a goodly volume of major economic data, above all from the US, China and the UK. It is another bumper week for US Treasury Supply ($123 Bln Bills, $67 Bln 3, 10 & 30-yr), and the end of the week sees the start of the US earnings season (Citi, JPM, PNC & Wells Fargo), and apparently there is a football game next Sunday which a lot of people will be watching.
- Inflation data features in both the US an China, which topically also has its latest Trade data as does Germany, while the UK has a raft of activity indicators, and Japan looks to Private Machinery Orders. US CPI is expected to rise by the usual 0.2% m/m, that would see y/y headline tick up to a 6 1/2 yr high of 2.9%, while core CPI would edge up to 2.3% y/y matching January 2017's recent high. US PPI will also attract attention given a good deal of chatter about trade tariff related pressures being passed through to end users, though a similar consensus to CPI of 0.2% m/m hardly suggests anything that will really worry the FOMC, with the headline y/y rate seen unchanged at 3.1%, and the ex-Food & Energy at 2.6% from 2.4%. Jolts Job Openings, Import & Export Prices, NFIB Small Business Optimism and preliminary Michigan Sentiment are also due.
For China, PPI may prove to be rather more significant item, with a falling CNY adding to pressures due to environmental restrictions and capacity cutbacks in a number of sectors as well a trade tensions, with the y/y rate rising for a third month to 4.5% y/y, having been as low as 3.1% as recently as March. For CPI, which is forecast to edge up to 1.9% y/y from 1.8%, food prices will again be key, having fallen sharply from a Lunar new Year related spike to 4.4% in February to just 0.1% in May; by contrast Non-Food Prices have not breached a 2.0%-2.5% range that has been in place since September, which is a better reflection of underlying consumer inflation trends. The inflation data will however need to surprise to distract from the latest Trade readings, which are expected to see Export and Import growth remain robust at 10.4% and 22.2% y/y respectively, though off the very strong 12.6% and 26.0% paced of May, with the Import data perhaps being boosted short-term by some hoarding activity ahead of the imposition of sanctions. Lending & Monetary aggregates, FX Reserves and FDI data are also due.
A bumper week in the UK has BRC Retail Sales, where it will be hoped that the warmer weather offers something of a boost to offset any reactive correction to May's Royal Wedding boost. While probably not critical to the BoE's increasingly hefty hints about an August rate hike, forecasts assume that the weak start to the quarter for Industrial Production, Construction Output and Trade seen in April was primarily a hangover from Q1 (as the BoE has argued), with median forecasts looking for 0.5% m/m, 0.3% and £-11.95 Bln respectively. Rather more sensitive for the BoE rate view will be the May Index of Services, seen at 0.3% m/m to boost the 3mth/3mth reading up to 0.4%, which will be accompanied by the ONS new monthly GDP indicator. RICS House Prices, the NIESR GDP estimate and the BoE's Credit Conditions & Bank Liabilities surveys are also due. Reaction will naturally be muted, if the outcome of the Brexit strategy cabinet meeting sees any major fall-out.
A rather quieter week for the Eurozone, where German Trade data (Export seen at +1.0% m/m, Imports 0.5%) and the ZEW (Expectations -18.0 from -16.1, Current Situation 78.9 vs. 80.6) top the agenda, with various other national Trade and Industrial Production readings due. Japan's domestic activity data has on balance been rather disappointing, even if the jump in Labour Cash Earnings in nominal and real terms offered a ray of light. The ever volatile Machinery Orders top the schedule with reactive correction of -5.0% m/m but +10.2% y/y is expected after April's outsized surge of 10.1% m/m; PPI, Current Account, Tertiary Industry Index and Economy Watchers (services) survey are also due.
- Despite a rather mixed set of labour data (Employment +31.8K, Full-time 9.1K, Wages 3.5 y/y from 3.9% and Unemployment Rate rising to 6.0%), a further 25 bps rate hike is expected at the Bank of Canada policy meeting, which will also be accompanied by its latest Monetary Policy Report and press conference. The message from Poloz and Wilkins is likely to remain the same, i.e. that their rate trajectory remains data dependent, and there remain considerable risks to the outlook for the economy and policy, above all due to trade tensions, even if they are basically happy with the inflation outlook. G7 central bank speakers will again be plentiful, and includes Draghi's quarterly testimony to the European Parliament. Elsewhere, rates are seen on hold in Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Peru, Poland and South Korea.
..........................................................................
Marc Ostwald
Strategist
ADM Investor Services International