The week ahead promises to be a full one, with a plethora of events coming up. The Word Economic Forum in Davos could generate some headlines, with particular focus on Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will be the first Chinese president to attend. Tuesday brings Theresa May's long-awaited Brexit speech, while of course Friday marks the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th US president. We will also be keeping a weather eye out for the Supreme Court ruling on Article 50, although there is no set date for its announcement.
Central Banks: ECB and BOC
No policy change is expected from either the ECB or the BoC, but both press conferences will draw attention, particularly that of President Draghi. The market is convinced that Draghi will do his best to be boring.
China Economic Update
There is a barrage of Chinese data out on Friday, where the most closely followed number will be China's Real GDP for 4Q will be released in China, as well as IP, retail sales, FAI and December property prices. On Monday, Xi Jinping said China's 2016 GDP is expected to be 6.7%.
US: CPI, Industrial Production, Housing, Trump Inauguration
There is a busy US calendar ahead, with CPI, Empire Manufacturing, industrial production, housing data and Philly Fed reports. There are several scheduled speaking engagements from Fed officials this week, including two by Chair Yellen on Wednesday and Thursday. The Beige Book for the January FOMC period will be released on Wednesday. The week culminates in the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th US president. Cabinet confirmation hearings will also be continuing during the week.
Eurozone and UK
In the Eurozone, the ECB will be the main event, with the German ZEW and final inflation prints the only data releases of note. In the UK, there is an important week ahead with Theresa May’s speech on Brexit the main focus, but also releases of inflation data, retail sales and the labor market report. Keep an eye out out for the UK Supreme Court ruling on Article 50, although there is no set date for the release.
Others
In Japan, we get machine orders, PPI, tertiary industry index, the final print of November IP and a speech from the BoJ’s Nakaso. In Australia, labor force data is the key release in the week ahead, while housing finance approvals and consumer confidence in both Australia and New Zealand will also be of interest. In Canada, focus will be on the BoC monetary policy meeting, but we also get CPI and retail sales data. It should be a very quiet week ahead in Switzerland and the Scandies, although we do hear from Norges Bank Governor Olsen, and of course Switzerland hosts the WEF in Davos. There will be monetary policy meetings in Chile, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Earnings
Earnings will also be in the spotlight with Morgan Stanley tomorrow, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Netflix on Wednesday, IBM on Thursday and Schlumberger and General Electric on Friday due.
Davos And Trump
Away from that world leaders will also congregate in Davos this week for the World Economic Forum while UK PM Theresa May is due to outline Brexit plans on Tuesday. Clearly the other big focus this week is the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President on Friday.
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A look at key events by day courtesy of DB:
- With markets closed in the US today for Martin Luther King Day it’s an unsurprisingly quiet start to the week with just the Euro area trade balance reading in November due.
- Tuesday kicks off in Japan where industrial production data is due. In Europe there will be plenty of focus on the ECB’s bank lending survey due early on, while the December inflation report in the UK will also be under the spotlight. The January ZEW survey for Germany is also due out. Over in the US tomorrow the only data due out is the January Empire manufacturing print.
- Turning to Wednesday, Germany and the Euro area will release the final revisions to December CPI reports while the UK will release the latest labour market data. Over in the US inflation data will also be the focus with the December report due out. Industrial and manufacturing production, as well as the NAHB housing market index will also be due.
- With little else of note on Thursday morning the main focus will be on the ECB policy meeting. In the US we’ll get housing starts and building permits data as well initial jobless claims and the Philly Fed business outlook print.
- It’s a blockbuster end to the week in China on Friday with the Q4 GDP print due along with December activity indicators including industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment. During the European session we’ll get PPI in Germany and retail sales in the UK. There’s nothing of note in the US on Friday except for Trump's inauguration of course.
There’s also plenty of Fedspeak this week. Both Dudley and Williams are scheduled to speak tomorrow, before Kashkari and Yellen speak on Wednesday. The latter is taking part in a discussion at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco however is also expected to give an economic assessment. The Fed Chair then speaks again on Friday, along with Harker and Williams. The ECB’s Villeroy and Praet also speak today along with the BoE’s Carney while we’ll also get the usual ECB press conference on Thursday.
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Finally, here is a full breakdown of just US events, together with consensus estimates, courtesy of Goldman Sachs
The key economic release this week is CPI on Wednesday. There are several scheduled speaking engagements from Fed officials this week, including two by Chair Yellen on Wednesday and Thursday. The Beige Book for the January FOMC period will be released on Wednesday.
Monday, January 16
- US markets are closed in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. There will be no economic data releases.
Tuesday, January 17
08:45 AM New York Fed President Dudley (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley will give a speech on “Evolving Consumer Behavior: A View from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York” at an event sponsored by the National Retail Federation.
08:30 AM Empire manufacturing survey, January (consensus +8.5, last +9.0)
10:00 AM Fed Governor Brainard (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will give a speech on “The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Monetary Policy” at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. Audience Q&A is expected.
06:00 PM San Francisco Fed President Williams (FOMC non-voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams will give the keynote speech at the Sacramento Business Review Economic Forecast at Sacramento State University in California. Audience and media Q&A is expected.
Wednesday, January 18
- 08:30 AM CPI (mom), December (GS +0.29%, consensus +0.30%, last +0.20%); Core CPI (mom), December (GS +0.20%, consensus +0.20%, last +0.15%); CPI (yoy), December (GS +2.1%, consensus +2.1%, last +1.7%); Core CPI (yoy), December (GS +2.2%, consensus +2.2%, last +2.1%): We expect that core CPI rose by 0.20% in December or 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. In the November report, core inflation was softer than expected, mainly due to lower inflation in the categories of apparel, medical care, airfares, and lodging away from home. We expect some payback in the apparel category, in part related to colder-than-average December temperatures. Headline consumer prices likely increased by 0.29% in December. On a year-over-year basis, the headline index likely increased by 2.1%.
- 09:00 AM Dallas Fed President Kaplan (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will participate in a panel discussion on “Confidence in Uncertain Times”. Media and audience Q&A is expected. President Kaplan is a voting member of the FOMC this year.
- 09:15 AM Industrial production, December (GS +1.1%, consensus +0.6%, last -0.4%): Manufacturing production, December (GS +0.4%, consensus +0.5%, last -0.1%); Capacity utilization, December (GS 75.8%, consensus 75.4%, last 75.0%): We expect industrial production to rebound by 1.1% in the December report following two months of weakness, based on our expectation of a rebound in the weather-sensitive utilities category.
- 10:00 AM NAHB housing market index, January (consensus 69, last 70): Consensus expects the NAHB homebuilders’ index—which we have found to be a decent leading indicator of housing starts—to tick down to 69, though still near post-crisis highs.
- 11:00 AM Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will give a speech on economic opportunity and inclusive growth at an event hosted by the Minneapolis Urban League. Audience and media Q&A is expected. President Kashkari will be a voting member on the FOMC this year.
- 02:00 PM Beige Book, January-February FOMC meeting period: The Fed’s Beige Book is a summary of regional economic anecdotes from the 12 Federal Reserve districts. The December Beige Book reported modestly slower activity in a few districts, stronger consumer spending and residential investment, and mixed manufacturing activity. In the January-February Beige Book, we will look for additional anecdotes related to the state of manufacturing activity, price inflation, and wage growth.
- 03:00 PM Fed Chair Yellen (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will give a speech on “The Goals of Monetary Policy and How We Pursue Them” in front of the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco. Audience Q&A is expected.
- 04:00 PM Total Net TIC Flows (last +$18.8bn)
Thursday, January 19
- 08:30 AM Housing starts, December (GS +12.0%, consensus +8.6%, last -18.7%); Building permits, December (consensus +1.1%, last -3.8%): We expect housing starts to rebound 12% in December, following a 19% drop in November led by the volatile multifamily category. Despite colder-than-usual December temperatures, favorable single-family fundamentals and a rising backlog of approved permits suggest scope for a meaningful rebound. Consensus expects a more modest rise of 8.6% for housing starts and looks for a 1.1% increase in building permits.
- 08:30 AM Initial jobless claims, week ended January 14 (GS 265k, consensus 251k, last 247k); Continuing jobless claims, week ended January 7 (last 2,087k): We expect initial jobless claims to rebound 18k to 265k, following two consecutive readings not far from the cycle low. We remain in a period where seasonal adjustment is difficult, and we are hesitant to infer a drop in the trend pace of layoffs based on the most recent two reports. Seasonality-related uncertainty will affect the data for at least two more weeks, and accordingly, confidence around our 265k forecast is low. The drop in initial claims has not yet been mirrored in continuing claims, which have actually risen relative to the levels in early December (as of the week ending December 31).
- 08:30 AM Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index, January (GS +16.0, consensus +16.0, last +19.7): We expect the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey to pull back to +16.0 following last month’s increase to +19.7, remaining at levels signaling expansion in manufacturing activity. Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia conducted its annual historical revision and calculation of new seasonal adjustment factors. For December, the index was revised down modestly to +19.7 from +21.5.
- 10:00 AM San Francisco Fed President Williams (FOMC non-voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams will give the keynote address at the Solano Economic Development Corporation’s Annual Luncheon Meeting in Fairfield, California. Audience Q&A is expected.
- 08:00 PM Fed Chair Yellen (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will give a speech on the economic outlook and US monetary policy at an event hosted by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Audience Q&A is expected.
Friday, January 20
- 09:00 AM Philadelphia Fed President Harker (FOMC voter) speaks: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker will participate in a discussion on the economic outlook at the New Jersey Bankers Association’s 6th Annual NJ Economic Leadership Forum. Media Q&A is expected. Last week, President Harker reiterated his support for three rate hikes this year.
- 01:00 PM San Francisco Fed President Williams (FOMC non-voter) speaks: San Francisco Fed President John Williams will give closing remarks at the Bay Area Council Economic Institute’s 10th Annual Economic Forecast event in San Francisco. Audience Q&A is expected. Remarks will likely be similar to those from his speaking engagement on Tuesday.
Source: BofA, DB, Goldman