Sterling shrugged off GDP data released on Friday which revealed Britain is not technically in a recession. The quarter-on-quarter figures stalled (at 0%) confirming that Britain just missed a recession.
The UK’s economic calendar will be dominated by the latest claimant count change and unemployment data this week – all before annual inflation on Wednesday and retail sales on Friday – each of these with the potential to move sterling in a different direction over the course of this week.
Across the pond, investors will follow inflation in the US and several speeches from the Federal Reserve. In the eurozone, the ones to watch will be France’s unemployment rate, Spain’s inflation rate as well as speeches from the European Central Bank. Euro-watchers will be keeping a close eye on the latest unemployment change and GDP this week.
In business news, Disney has announced that it will layoff some 7,000 people in an effort to achieve £5.5bn in cost savings. The layoffs represent around 3.6% of its workforce.
On the data front, the US budget deficit was recorded smaller than markets initially expected on Friday. The latest data revealed the government budget deficit stood at $39bn in January following a $119bn surplus in the previous period.
US stock markets ended with mixed results on Friday, with the Dow Jones finishing 0.5% higher, the S&P 500 up 0.2% while the Nasdaq finished 0.6% weaker.
With a flurry of economic data releases scheduled in over the coming days, Dollar watchers will have a lot on their plate between jobless claims, retail sales and much more.
The spotlight will be on inflation data which is scheduled in for Tuesday afternoon.
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