Homeowners will be keeping their eyes peeled on the Halifax house price index on Thursday for signs of a rebound in the housing market.
The index has stayed at 2.1% for the past three monthly reads, but recent mortgage rate reductions and a tight labour market might prove to be tailwinds.
Unfortunately it may be wishful thinking; Nationwide noted on Friday, March 31 showed that house prices fell by 3.1% year-on-year in March, marking the biggest annual decline since July 2009.
Chief economist at Nationwide Robert Gardner warned: "It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term since consumer confidence remains weak and household budgets remain under pressure from high inflation.
source: tradingeconomics.com
Meanwhile, Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at interactive investor, said “the wheels are coming off the runaway house prices in the face of rising costs”.
Other key UK announcements include manufacturing PMIs on Monday, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Summary on Tuesday, and new car sales on Wednesday
US jobs data in focus
Friday is the critical day for US data, when the unemployment rate and non-farm payrolls, a measure of new jobs created, will be announced.
Consensus has unemployment staying at 3.6%, with 240,000 new jobs created, although NFPs in March were significantly underestimated, coming in at 311,000 against the 204,000 prediction.
Evidence of persistently strong employment data will throw a spanner in the works for the Federal Reserve’s fight against inflation.
source: tradingeconomics.com
Prior to that, the US balance of trade data comes out on Wednesday. The deficit is expected to widen from -US$68.3bn to -US$68.6bn.
Other key US announcements include manufacturing PMIs on Monday, services PMIs on Wednesday, and total vehicle sales on Thursday.
The EU and beyond
Key dates on the European calendar include manufacturing PMIs on Monday, consumer expectation survey results on Tuesday and construction PMIs on Thursday.
There are some key inflation reads to watch out for, including Switzerland and Turkey on Monday, and South Korea on Tuesday.
Down under, Australian retail sales due on Monday are expected to grow a mere 0.2%, while the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Tuesday.
Finally, Canada will disclose its unemployment rate on Thursday. They held at a near-record low in March, so analysts will be keen to see if any loosening is on the horizon to justify the Bank of Canada’s expectations that recent weak economic growth would pressure the job market.