Next Week At A Glance

This story features SANTOS LIMITED. For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: STO

 By Greg Peel

Tonight in the US sees the much anticipated unemployment data, but thereafter its a quieter week across the Pacific. Not that the numbers released next week are not important, as they include consumer credit, retail sales, current account and the trade balance.

There is also another hefty round of bond auctions in the US week.

But the real action will be in the Asian time zone. In Australia, the local bank economics teams battle it out with their various data offerings, beginning with the ANZ job ads series on Monday. NAB backs up with its business confidence figures and Tuesday and the Westpac follows with its consumer confidence data on Thursday.

Official data in between include the third quarter current account, October housing finance and trade balance, and then the biggie on Thursday in the November unemployment numbers. RBA governor Glenn Stevens will also make a speech on Tuesday, no doubt providing some enlightenment on his recent Christmas present to the borrowing public.

And it’s a big day on Friday, as China releases its latest round of monthly data. This includes industrial production, retail sales, the trade balance, PPI and CPI.

Elsewhere in the world, the UK and Germany note monthly industrial production, Japan revises its third quarter GDP estimate, and Canada, New Zealand and the UK call make rate decisions.

On the local stock front, AGMs have gone blissfully quiet, with only a handful next week. Santos ((STO)) will hold its investor day on Thursday.

For a more comprehensive preview of next week’s events, please refer to “The Week Ahead”, published each Monday morning. For all economic data release dates, AGM dates and times and other relevant information, please refer to the FNArena Calendar.

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