US: Industrial production and housing data in the limelight - Rabobank

Piotr Matys, EM FX Strategist at Rabobank, suggests that the US housing starts are expected to rise to 1.26mn in April, up 3.7% m/m, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg while building permits are anticipated to edge higher by 0.2% m/m to 1.27mn. 

Key Quotes

“Also on Tuesday, US industrial production is expected to rise by 0.4% m/m in April from 0.5% m/m in March. Details will be important as the 0.5% m/m growth in March was driven by an increase in utility production, which helped to offset a sharp decline in automotive production. It is worth pointing out that new vehicle sales fell sharply in April following a disappointing March. Weak auto sales also weighed on US GDP growth in Q1 when the economy grew at annual rate of just 0.7% (based on the advanced estimate published at the end of April). Excluding the auto sector, the pace of GDP growth would have been significantly higher at 1.2%.”