We’ll be looking at the week’s key economic events on the financial calendar covering Monday to Thursday. This week starts off sluggish with significant economic event releases but heats up as it heads towards the second part with important GDP figures from the US and inflation from the EU. Friday is Nonfarm Payrolls and that is always worth keeping an eye on.

Event: US Home Prices

Date: Tuesday 29 August 2017 at 13:00 GMT

Markets affected: EUR/USD, USD/JPY

Trending hashtags: #usd, #homes

Standard & Poor’s Case-Schiller Home Prices index for June is due out on Tuesday for the US. The index looks at the prices of the residential real estate market in 20 key regions across the country and is a good indicator on the housing market in the US. Last month’s change in value came in at an increase of 5.7% and expectations for June on a year-by-year basis are the same.

Event: Japan Retail Trade

Date: Tuesday 29 August 2017 at 23:50 GMT

Markets affected: EUR/JPY, USD/JPY

Trending hashtags: #yen, #retail

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will be releasing Retail Trade figures for July. This is a key indicator for consumer spending which is an overall signifier for the health of the economy. Last week we saw the national core consumer price index show 0.5% growth for August, another key indicator for the nation’s economy. Retail Trade at the previous reading showed 2.1% growth but analysts are expecting a less impressive figure for July at just 1% growth.

 Event: Eurozone Data Releases

Date: Wednesday 30 August 2017 at 09:00 GMT

Markets affected: EUR/USD, EUR/GBP

Trending hashtags: #eur

A raft of data releases is due out at the same time for the Eurozone on Wednesday morning starting with the Services Sentiment for August which measures business confidence on current and expected demand. The last figure was 14.1 and the expectation is for a slight fall to 13.8. We also get the Consumer Confidence report which has been sitting at a low -1.5 and expectations are for a similar figure, and Industrial Confidence which has been showing a stronger reading at 4.5 and expectations are for an even better 4.8. The Economic Sentiment Indicator shows a more confident consumer survey with expectations for it to stay unchanged at 111.2. We round off the morning with the Business Climate report by the European Commission which was at 1.05 at the previous reading.

Event: US Gross Domestic Product

Date: Wednesday 30 August 2017 at 13:30 GMT

Markets affected: EUR/USD, USD/JPY

Trending hashtags: #usd, #gdp

GDP is perhaps the strongest indicator followed by the financial markets on the state of a nation’s economy. The second quarter GDP is due on Wednesday for the US and it will be closely watched by the markets as many will be speculating on whether we will see a third interest rate hike by the Fed for the year. The economy grew by 2.6% in the previous quarter and the preliminary reports for Q2 are showing 2.7% growth.

Event: EU Consumer Price Index

Date: Thursday 31 August 2017 at 09:00 GMT

Markets affected: EUR/USD, EUR/GBP

Trending hashtags: #eur, #cpi

Preliminary figures for August’s CPI in the Eurozone will be released on Thursday. This measures purchasing trends and is a key inflation indicator for the region. It’s a highly significant report as the European Central Bank keeps a close eye on inflation levels hitting their 2% target. Changes to the figure may influence the ECBs stance on monetary policy which it has indicated may be due for some loosening. The last reading for the CPI was 1.3% on an annualised basis and expectations are for a slight increase to 1.4%.

References

https://www.fxstreet.com/economic-calendar

http://www.businessinsider.com/gdp-gross-domestic-product-q2-2017-advance-estimate-2017-7

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/euro-zone-inflation-holds-steady-cpi-for-july.html