With global monetary policy decisions out of the way for now (aside from the RBNZ next week) and US-China trade talks yet nowhere near a conclusion, there’s not a lot in the week ahead we know about that might move markets, except Brexit.
The EU will extend Brexit to May 22 if Theresa May’s third attempt at a deal passes through the UK parliament which, given the EU is not prepared to make further concessions, seems a remote possibility. Even if by some miracle it did, all 27 EU members must also agree.
Which suggests next Friday could be a pivotal global event.
Ahead of that there’s a raft of US data releases next week of which some are fresh and others are catch-ups, while some releases previously scheduled for next week have been postponed. It all depends on whether they are government-compiled data. I’ve no idea how long it will take to finally “catch up”.
So we should see the latest numbers for consumer confidence, house prices, housing starts, pending and new home sales, along with catch-ups for January trade and PCE inflation and a revision of the December quarter GDP result.
Private sector credit numbers are the only major release in a quiet week for local data.
The ex-divs continue to roll in the local market and there are a couple of biggies in there next week.
Thursday is the expiry of March quarter stock options.
Kidman Resources ((KDR)) posts its earnings result.
