Eurozone Q2 GDP and July inflation data in focus today
Happy Fed day, everyone! Hope you're all doing well as we look to get things going in the session ahead. It's been a calmer start to proceedings with the aussie slightly buoyed after better-than-expected Q2 CPI data while the kiwi is weighed lower following yet another poor showing from business confidence - alongside sluggish Chinese data.
Looking ahead, the major focus is the FOMC meeting today but before that we'll have a slew of euro area data to keep us occupied; though unlikely to offer much.
0600 GMT - Germany June retail sales data
Prior release can be found here. Provides a general indication of consumption activity in the German economy. A minor data point.
0600 GMT - UK July Nationwide house prices data
Prior release can be found here. A glimpse at housing market activity in the UK economy, which remains rather sluggish in light of Brexit uncertainty. Low-tier data.
0645 GMT - France July preliminary CPI figures
Prior report can be found here. The expectation going into the release here is for inflationary pressures to ease up slightly relative to June but the surprising beat from Germany yesterday kind of skews that a little. Regardless, the figures here will feed into overall price pressures in the euro area that will be released later in the day.
0700 GMT - Spain Q2 preliminary GDP report
Prior report can be found here. Economic growth in Spain is expected to remain modest in Q2 and is one of the brighter spots in the euro area considering what is happening elsewhere. The release feeds into overall economic sentiment surrounding the region.
0755 GMT - Germany July unemployment change, rate
Prior release can be found here. Labour market conditions in Germany continues to hold steady/tight and this report should reaffirm that. Not a major release by any means.
0900 GMT - Eurozone July preliminary CPI figures
Prior report can be found here. Inflationary pressures in the euro area are expected to hold somewhat steady with core inflation expected to dip a little to +1.0% y/y in July from the +1.1% y/y reading in June. If within expectations, it should do little to shift the dial in the recent dovish tones by the ECB.
0900 GMT - Eurozone Q2 preliminary GDP report
Prior report can be found here. Overall growth in the Eurozone is expected to slow down in Q2 relative to the first quarter and that's not too surprising considering what is happening in Germany and the region's manufacturing sector. The release here should very much reflect that and reaffirm the ECB's recent dovish rhetoric.
0900 GMT - Eurozone June unemployment rate
Prior release can be found here. Labour market conditions are expected to remain tight but with little translation towards meaningful price pressures, the data here matters little.
0900 GMT - Italy July preliminary CPI figures
Prior report can be found here. The focus will be more on the euro area figures released at the same time, as such this is more of an accompaniment to that.
1000 GMT - Italy Q2 preliminary GDP report
Prior report can be found here. Italy's economic growth is expected to contract once again after a brief "recovery" in Q1 and the report should just confirm that the state of the economy remains at the doldrums more than anything else.
1100 GMT - US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 26 July
Weekly US housing data, measures the change in number of applications for mortgages backed by the MBA during the week. Not the biggest of data points, but a general indicator of the housing sector sentiment.
That's all for the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading!
