This week featured key economic data releases, including a notable improvement in the ZEW Economic Sentiment Index in the Eurozone and closely watched US inflation data, which attracted strong market attention. Below is an overview of the key macroeconomic events from the past week.
United Kingdom:
● At 6:00 a.m. GMT, the UK unemployment rate for March was reported at 4.5%, being in line with forecasts and slightly up from the previous 4.4%.
Eurozone:
● At 9:00 a.m. GMT, the ZEW Economic Sentiment Index for May jumped to 11.6, far exceeding the forecast of -3.5 and the previous reading of -18.5.
United States:
● 12:30 GMT: At 12:30 p.m. GMT, the Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April (month-over-month) came in at 0.2%, below the 0.3% forecast but up from the prior 0.1%.
● At the same time, the headline CPI for April (month-over-month) was also reported at 0.2%, missing the forecast of 0.3% but improving from -0.1% in March.
Germany:
● At 6:00 a.m. GMT, Germany’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April (month-over-month) was confirmed at 0.4%, matching expectations and up from 0.3% previously.
United States:
● At 2:30 p.m. GMT, US crude oil inventories rose by 3.454 million barrels, significantly missing the expected draw of -2.000 million and up from the prior -2.032 million.
United Kingdom:
● At 6:00 a.m. GMT, the preliminary estimate of UK Q1 GDP showed growth of 0.7% quarter-over-quarter, exceeding the forecast of 0.6% and improving from the prior 0.1%. Annualized UK Q1 GDP growth was reported at 1.3%, slightly above the 1.2% forecast but below the previous 1.5%.
Eurozone:
● At 9:00 a.m. GMT, Eurozone Q1 GDP growth was confirmed at 1.2%, matching both the forecast and the prior figure.
United States:
● At 12:30 p.m. GMT, Core Retail Sales for April (month-over-month) were reported at 0.1%, falling short of the 0.3% forecast and below the previous 0.8%.
● At the same time, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for May came in at -4.0, better than the forecast of -11.3 and improving from the prior -26.4.
● Also at 12:30 p.m. GMT, Retail Sales for April (month-over-month) were recorded at 0.1%, beating expectations of 0.0% but down from the previous 1.7%.
Japan:
● At 11:50 p.m. GMT, Japan’s Q1 GDP (quarter-over-quarter) was scheduled for release, with expectations pointing to a contraction of -0.1%, down from the previous 0.6%.
Eurozone:
● At 9:00 a.m. GMT, the Eurozone trade balance for March is expected at 17.5 billion euros, compared to the previous 24.0 billion.
Canada:
● At 12:30 p.m. GMT, foreign investment in Canadian securities for March is forecast at 5.20 billion Canadian dollars, following a previous reading of -6.46 billion.
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