Next Week At A Glance

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This story features BANK OF QUEENSLAND LIMITED.
For more info SHARE ANALYSIS: BOQ
The company is included in ASX100, ASX200, ASX300 and ALL-ORDS

By Greg Peel

December has begun as if November never happened despite a few unresolved issues about the place. The ECB has vaguely suggested it is supporting the weaker eurozone members with monetary policy measures, Beijing is yet to make any announcement on further tightening measures – perhaps a rate hike, or maybe even a currency revaluation. No doubt renewed European woes have kept the PboC on the sidelines at least for the moment.

If Kim the Young is an internet child then he is no doubt fully aware of the Wikileaks revelations that Beijing has lost its patience with Pyongyang and finds it hard to justify ongoing support for the communist anachronism that is North Korea in its own new world of capitalist expansion, if communist is how one might best describe an effective monarchy. That may be why the guns have stopped firing.

The real focus, all of a sudden it seems, is on improving US economic data. And this December burst of strength has highlighted that most US equity fund managers are still underweight and looking a little foolish. Today and tonight sees the global round of service sector PMI data, although services never quite get the same attention as manufacturing which suggests the world still has the Industrial Revolution stuck in its DNA. The real focus will be on the US jobs report tonight, which at present count is expected to show an increase of 155,000.

The first full week of the new month is always the quietest for US economic data, so next week is confined to consumer credit and wholesale trade, with the trade balance and Treasury budget backing up on the Friday along with December's first fortnightly UMich confidence survey.

It's a bit busier in Australia, where we will see ANZ job ads, the TD Securities inflation gauge, housing finance and investment lending, and our own jobs report on Thursday. The RBA will, of course, make a “rate decision” on Tuesday, but all the fun's gone out of that coin toss for now. The statement will still make for interesting reading however.

Of great interest to Australia in particular, China will release its November trade balance on Friday. Prior to that, Germany's trade balance release on the Wednesday will also be closely watched.

The local AGMs have now slowed to little more than a trickle following November's flood, but we do have the banks coming up. Bank of Queensland ((BOQ)) meets next week, as does the the unlikely rat pack which makes up the new look Ten Network ((TEN)) board.

For a more comprehensive preview of next week's events, please refer to "The Monday Report", published each Monday morning. For all economic data release dates, ex-div dates and times and other relevant information, please refer to the FNArena Calendar.

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