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The Week Ahead – Week Commencing 06 May 2024

It was a huge week for investors again last week as they digested a swath of data updates, geopolitical concerns, and the small matter of a Federal Reserve Bank meeting. US employment data rounded out the week well for investors as it came in well below expectations, and Wall Street rallied strongly as hopes for Fed rate cuts increased.

Here’s our usual day-by-day breakdown of the major economies’ scheduled risk events:

The week once again looks set to start on a positive footing for Asian markets after Wall Street surged higher on Friday, and there is very little on the event calendar to change that sentiment initially. There is nothing of note on the calendar in the first session of the week, although traders will note that Japanese markets are on holiday again, which could trouble Yen traders in terms of liquidity. The UK is also on holiday, which will also affect liquidity in the European session, and the only event of note for the rest of the day is a scheduled speech from the SNB Governor Thomas Jordan.

The focus will be firmly on Australian markets on the Asian open with the latest rate update from the Reserve Bank of Australia due out early in the Sydney afternoon. The European session will see the focus on the UK with the Construction PMI data due out early in the day, and it’s another quiet session in New York with just the Ivey PMI data due out in Canada on the calendar.

The quietest day of the week in terms of event risk, with no tier 1 data releases scheduled at all across the trading sessions. The US session sees the release of the latest 10-year Bond Auction results which will be a focus for traders later in the day.

The Asian session has little on the event calendar although Yen traders will pay closer attention than normal to the BOJ’s Summary of Opinions report early in the day given the focus on the currency at the moment. It looks set to be a lively day in the European session; most of the continent is on holiday which will thin liquidity but UK markets will be heavily focused on the Bank of England and the latest rate update. The New York session has the usual weekly unemployment claims data scheduled as well as the 30-year Bond Auction later in the day.

The Asian session is once again bereft of tier 1 data, but the UK will again be in focus once Europe opens as the latest GDP numbers are due out early in the day. The initial focus for the New York session will be north of the border with the key Canadian employment numbers due for release before attention moves back to the US and the Prelim University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment data. Traders will also note that Chinese CPI and PPI numbers are due out over the weekend which could influence the Asian open next Monday.

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