FYI | Feb 12 2007
By Greg Peel Done by the Poms in the cricket. Done by Belgium in the tennis (where’s Belgium?). Torrential rain falling in the Sydney catchment. What a bizarre world we live in.
Exactly the sort of problem the RBA will have had to sort out for today’s Statement on Monetary Policy. Before Christmas, consensus had it that a February rate rise was a pretty good bet. One CPI figure changed that, and now a good deal of economists are backing no rate rise at all in Australia in 2007. Was it just an oil and banana blip, or is inflation actually coming under control? Economists will be pouring over the Statement today looking for subtle hints in the language.
That will be the highlight of an otherwise quiet week on the local economic front. Tomorrow brings us December lending finance and the January NAB business survey. Wednesday sees the Melbourne Institute monthly measure of consumer sentiment, Thursday fourth quarter housing prices, and Friday merchandise imports for January.
In the US we have the budget statement tonight and December trade balance on Tuesday. On Wednesday Fed chief Bernanke reports to Congress, and January retail trade estimates and December business inventories are released. Thursday sees both industrial production and capacity utilisation for January, along with the all important Philadelphia Fed economic report. The week ends with January housing starts, building permits, and the PPI.
It’s PPI night tonight as well in the UK tonight, and the Bank of England releases its inflation report on Wednesday. In Brussels, celebrations will continue on the specially-prepared clay court.
Reporting season moves into second gear this week. Third and fourth gears will be hit in the next two weeks. For all reporting dates, turn to FNArena’s Financial Calendar.