UK retail sales for April is due today

And it is going to be ugly to say the least, given the lockdown measures and restricted business conditions. But investors have already come to terms that April is the worst month - for pretty much everywhere - amid the coronavirus crisis.

The key question now will be what exactly is the pace of the recovery?

In any case, the main focus today remains on the risk mood and so far headlines haven't been all too pleasant with China not going to set a GDP target for the year and the new legislation set to be imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong adding to risk worries.

The dollar is keeping firmer alongside the yen, as equities keep weaker alongside Treasury yields. US futures are down by 0.6% as we start to move towards European trading.

Economic data will once again take a backseat for now, so keep the focus on risk sentiment and more related headlines in the coming sessions ahead of the weekend.

0600 GMT - UK April retail sales data

Prior release can be found here. March already saw a significant plunge in retail/consumption activity and April will be much worse than that, with the data today to reaffirm such sentiment. Although it is going to look really bad, I would argue that this is largely baked into market expectations already so any reaction to the release should be minimal.

0600 GMT - UK April public sector debt

Prior release can be found here. The latest update on public sector debt is expected to swell considerably due to the current fiscal conditions and that will be reflected here.

1130 GMT - ECB publishes account of its April monetary policy meeting

The April meeting decision can be found here. This shouldn't have any impact whatsoever as whatever that needs to be communicated to the market by ECB policymakers since the April meeting should already have been. As such, the insight into the meeting here should not tell us anything we don't already know since 30 April.

That's all for the session ahead. I wish you all the best of days to come and good luck with your trading! Stay safe out there.