Here's the Economic Calendar for the week commencing the 15th of May 2011. This week brings more inflation results from the eurozone, the U.K., and Canada. There's also Q1 GDP from Japan, which also has industrial production figures out, and an interest rate decision due from the Bank of Japan. The U.S. has housing starts, building permits, and existing home sales data due this week. Elsewhere there's retail sales figures due from the U.K. and Canada, and foreign direct investment numbers from China.
(More commentary follows the table)
| Date | GMT | Country/ Currency | Event | Forecast | Previous |
| SUN | 23:50 | JPY | Domestic Corporate Goods Price Index (YoY) | 2.10% | 2.00% |
| SUN | 23:50 | JPY | Machine Orders (YoY) | -8.00% | 7.60% |
| SUN | 01:30 | AUD | Home Loans | 2.00% | -5.60% |
| MON | 05:00 | JPY | Consumer Confidence | 36.70 | 38.60 |
| MON | 09:00 | EUR | Euro-Zone Consumer Price Index (MoM) | 0.60% | 1.40% |
| MON | 09:00 | EUR | Euro-Zone Consumer Price Index (YoY) | 2.80% | 2.80% |
| MON | 09:00 | EUR | Euro-Zone CPI - Core (YoY) | 1.50% | 1.30% |
| MON | 09:00 | EUR | Euro-Zone Trade Balance (euros) | 2.0B | -1.5B |
| MON | 09:00 | EUR | Italian Consumer Price Index (YoY) | 3.00% | 3.00% |
| MON | 13:00 | USD | Ben Bernanke Speaks on U.S. Economy | ||
| MON | 15:00 | EUR | EU Finance Ministers Summit in Brussels | ||
| MON | CNY | China Actual Foreign Direct Investment (YoY) | 36.10% | 32.90% | |
| MON | 01:30 | AUD | Reserve Bank of Australia Meeting Minutes | ||
| TUE | 06:30 | EUR | EU Finance Ministers Summit in Brussels | ||
| TUE | 08:30 | GBP | Consumer Price Index (YoY) | 4.10% | 4.00% |
| TUE | 08:30 | GBP | Core Consumer Price Index (YoY) | 3.20% | 3.20% |
| TUE | 09:00 | EUR | Euro-Zone ZEW Survey (Econ. Sentiment) | 17.30 | 19.70 |
| TUE | 12:30 | USD | Housing Starts | 568K | 549K |
| TUE | 12:30 | USD | Housing Starts (MoM) | 3.50% | 7.20% |
| TUE | 12:30 | USD | Building Permits | 587K | 585K |
| TUE | 12:30 | USD | Building Permits (MoM) | 0.30% | 11.20% |
| TUE | 13:15 | USD | Industrial Production | 0.40% | 0.80% |
| TUE | 13:15 | USD | Capacity Utilization | 77.60% | 77.40% |
| TUE | CNY | HSBC PMI Manufacturing | 51.80 | ||
| WED | 08:30 | GBP | Bank of England Meeting Minutes | ||
| WED | 18:00 | USD | Federal Open Market Committee Minutes | ||
| WED | 23:50 | JPY | Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) (1Q P) | -0.50% | -0.30% |
| WED | 23:50 | JPY | Gross Domestic Product Annualized | -2.00% | -1.30% |
| WED | 23:50 | JPY | Gross Domestic Product Deflator (YoY) | -1.90% | -1.60% |
| WED | 23:50 | JPY | Nominal Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) | -0.80% | -0.70% |
| WED | 23:50 | JPY | Housing Loans (YoY) | 3.20% | |
| THU | 04:30 | JPY | Industrial Production (YoY) | -12.90% | |
| THU | 05:30 | JPY | Nationwide Department Store Sales (YoY) | -14.70% | |
| THU | 08:30 | GBP | Retail Sales ex Auto Fuel (YoY) | 2.20% | 0.90% |
| THU | 08:30 | GBP | Retail Sales inc Auto Fuel (YoY) | 2.50% | 1.30% |
| THU | 14:00 | USD | Existing Home Sales | 5.20M | 5.10M |
| THU | 14:00 | USD | Existing Home Sales (MoM) | 2.00% | 3.70% |
| THU | 14:30 | CAD | Bank of Canada Review Release | ||
| THU | JPY | Bank of Japan Interest Rate Decision | 0.10% | 0.10% | |
| FRI | 06:00 | EUR | German Producer Prices (YoY) | 6.00% | 6.20% |
| FRI | 08:00 | EUR | Italian Industrial Orders n.s.a. (YoY) | 15.70% | 16.20% |
| FRI | 11:00 | CAD | Bank Canada CPI Core (YoY) | 1.60% | 1.70% |
| FRI | 11:00 | CAD | Consumer Price Index (YoY) | 3.40% | 3.30% |
| FRI | 12:30 | CAD | Retail Sales (MoM) | 0.90% | 0.40% |
| FRI | 12:30 | CAD | Retail Sales Less Autos (MoM) | 0.70% | 0.70% |
| FRI | 14:00 | EUR | Euro-Zone Consumer Confidence | -12.00 | -11.60 |
As noted, there's more inflation data due out this week with the eurozone expected to report annual headline inflation of 2.8% and core inflation of about 1.5%. The U.K. is set to report headline inflation around 4.1%, with core inflation sitting around 3.2%. Canada is expected to show headline inflation at 3.4% and core of about 1.6%.
Onto Japan, there's Q1 GDP data due out, with GDP expected to contract by -0.5% or an annualised -2%, worse than Q4 2010's -0.3% and -1.3% respectively. Japan also has industrial production figures due out, which showed a contraction of -12.9% previously. The other main event from Japan is the Bank of Japan's monetary policy announcement later in the week.
Also in monetary policy is the release of meeting minutes due from the Federal Open Market Committee, the Bank of England, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. These documents will provide an interesting insight as to how these central banks are thinking about their economies and monetary policy.
In the U.S. there's some key housing market data due with housing starts expected to improve slightly, and building permits also expected to lift a little, while existing home sales are likewise expected to marginally improve. Also in the U.S. is industrial production figures, expected to slow to 0.4%, while capacity utilisation is expected around 77.6%.
So as always, have a great week, watch out for surprises, and stay tuned for updates...
Sources
DailyFX
Forex Pros
Forex Factory
Bloomberg
+various statistics websites and central bank websites for verification
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
