Mario Blascak, PhD
Independent Analyst
What you need to know before markets open
- Metals extended their stellar gains pushing the commodity index to new highs as investors continue to weigh the negative effect of the US sanctions on Russia.
- The UK retail sales disappointed in March adding the third piece of worse than expected news into the UK macro puzzle this week.
- The semi-annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank begins in Washington DC with top central bank officials and other economic celebrities scheduled to speak at the event.
- On the hard data front, the US initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index headline, but both are rather the second tier indicators.
Thursday’s market moving events
- The US Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is scheduled to speak at the 2018 Global Finance Forum in Washington at 12:00 GMT.
- The US initial jobless claims are expected to reach 230K in the week ending April 13.
- Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey is expected to decelerate to 20.1 in April.
- Canada’s ADP employment report is due.
- Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Governor Randal Quarles to provide semi-annual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee at 13:30 GMT.
- The Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe is scheduled to speak at the Global Finance Forum, in Washington at 16:30 GMT.
Major market movers
- Sterling was trading lower after disappointing UK retail sales in March that were complemented with the UK Prime Minister May losing the vote in House of Lords.
- The US Dollar is generally trading little change of Dollar index basis with no major news scheduled.
Earlier in Asia/Europe
- Australian employment rose 4.9K only, missing the expectations of a 20.4K increase in March
- The Eurozone current account recorded a surplus of €35.1 billion in February, down from €37.6 billion in January
- The UK retail sales fell -1.2% over the month in March while core retail sales fell -0.5% m/m making the first quarter negative overall.
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