Global Calendar Week of Mar 22

I​srael Votes; Powell and Yellen Testify: Week Ahead March 22-26

GameStop, Tencent, General Mills Adobe, Winnebago, JBS results

EU leaders pandemic summit; Tokyo Olympics torch relay begins By Phyllis Halliday, Stanley James and Pete Norman

Coronavirus cases and deaths, including those from more infectious mutations, are still raging across much of the world. WHO reported the fastest rate of new cases since January.

On the bright side, newly reported deaths are falling. As governments begin easing their lockdowns, people, those who have been vaccinated, are starting to venture out and feeling more hopeful.

More than 121 million people globally have been infected with the coronavirus, and deaths have surpassed 2.68 million. More than 400 million vaccines have been given worldwide.

Earnings for the week:

Adobe, Alpha Bank, meme stock GameStop, Anta Sports Products, China Citic Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Life Insurance, Cnooc, Country Garden, energy giant E.ON, Funding Circle, General Mills, JBS, UK home improvement supply group Kingfisher, Longfor Group, PetroChina, Porsche, Saudi Arabian Oil (Saudi Aramco), Tencent, Winnebago and online pollster YouGov.

 

Monday, March 22

Bank for International Settlements holds its Innovation Summit. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are among the participants. Through March 25.

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin speaks to the Maryland Bankers Association. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly hosts a virtual discussion on the future of education.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets regional leaders to assess lockdown measures in the country amid discontent over the government’s rollout of vaccinations.

ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot speaks at Dutch central bank’s annual press conference.

Swiss National Bank publishes its annual report.

Home furnishings company Ikea and some of its former executives face trial in Versailles over accusations of spying on staff.

Tanzania and Uganda expected to sign a deal to build a $3.5 billion crude oil pipeline connecting the two countries.

African finance minister meet at a two-day conference hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Through March 23.

Kosovo parliament convenes for the first time since snap elections, paving the way for forming new government, with a comeback as premier likely for vote winner Albin Kurti.

 

Calendar***

China loan prime rates

Hong Kong CPI, BoP

Israel industrial production

Taiwan export orders, jobless rate

Ukraine GDP

New Zealand consumer confidence

South Korea 20 days trade, discount store sales, department store sales

Japan convenience store sales, leading index, coincident index

Malaysia foreign reserves

Macau visitor arrivals

Morocco CPI

Ghana interest rate

 

Tuesday, March 23

GameStop Q4 earnings

Yellen, Powell pandemic response oversight hearing

Parliamentary elections in Israel, the fourth in two years. Despite being dogged by corruption allegations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed credit for the world’s most successful Covid vaccination drive and improving relations with the Arab world. However, joblessness remains stubbornly high and Netanyahu once again won’t easily be be able to form a ruling coalition, polls suggest.

Federal Reserve’s Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are expected to make their first joint appearance before the U.S. House Financial Services committee to testify on Fed and Treasury pandemic policies.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks to the London School of Economics. New York Fed President John Williams discusses the New York economy.

Eurex Derivatives Forum Frankfurt 2021 is held virtually. Through March 24.

Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle gives a speech, via videoconference, to the CFA Society Toronto.

ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau speaks at presentation of the Bank of France’s annual report.

Germany’s Merkel hosts a summit for CEOs of carmakers, on the outlook for electric vehicles and global emissions. The summit comes as a forecast is trimmed for Europe’s biggest economy.

ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane receives UCD Society’s Thomas Kettle Award ceremony and Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel gives a lecture at ECB-RFS Macro-Finance Online Conference.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, BIS General Manager Agustin Carstensand the Fed’s Powell speak at BIS conference.

BOE Governor Bailey speaks as a pre-recorded panelist on “unlocking investment for net zero”; Chief Economist Andy Haldane speaks on a panel on an Institute and Faculty of Actuaries webinar; and Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffespeaks on a panel at the BIS Innovation Summit on payments and central bank digital currencies.

 

Calendar***

Argentina GDP

Italy industrial orders

Mexico international reserves

Australia ANZ Roy Morgan consumer confidence

New Zealand trade, credit card spending

Rate decision: Morocco, Nigeria

Singapore CPI

Japan department store sales, machine tool orders

Taiwan industrial production

U.K. jobless claims, unemployment

U.S. new home sales

Hungary rate decision

Brazil central bank meeting minutes

 

Wednesday, March 24

EIA crude oil inventory report

Fed’s Powell and Treasury’s Yellen Senate hearing

Bank of Thailand rate decision, briefing

Tencent Q4 results, conference call

Authers’ Notes: ‘Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will take part in a remote hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on the quarterly CARES Act report to Congress.

New York Fed President John Williams takes part in a virtual discussion hosted by Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will discuss her research on equitable growth. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans participates in a virtual Q&A hosted by the Japan America Society of Chicago.

German cabinet is due to sign off on a 2022 budget plan. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said the country needs to increase debt spending to help tackle the impact of the coronavirus.

Art Basel’s billionaire art fair in Switzerland is postponed until September. In its place will be three online viewing rooms. The first begins today and features artists who’ve “broken new ground.” Through March 27.

Deutsche Bank CFO James von Moltke speaks on the final day of the Eurex Derivatives Forum.

 

Calendar***

Eurozone Markit services PMI, consumer confidence

Markit manufacturing PMI: France, Eurozone, Germany, U.K.

Mexico unemployment

CPI: South Africa, Malaysia, U.K.

South Korea PPI

Rate decision: Czech Republic, Iceland

Thailand rate decision, trade

New Zealand trade

Japan Jibun Bank PMI, PPI

 

Thursday, March 25

Mexico central bank rate decision

South African Reserve Bank rate decision

Tech CEOs testify about online misinformation

U.S. congressional hearing featuring CEOs from Facebook, Google and Twitter. Lawmakers will grill them on their failure to crack down on misinformation.

EU Leaders Summit includes topics ranging from Covid, industrial policy and the eastern Mediterranean to relations with Russia. Through March 26.

ECB’s Lagarde, BOE’s Bailey, ECB Governing Council members Weidmann and Villeroy, Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves and New York Fed President John Williams speak on a panel at the BIS Innovation Summit about central bank innovation.

New York Fed’s Williams speaks to the Urban Core of Syracuse. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans addresses the Women in Housing and Finance meeting. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly discusses monetary policy in the Covid era. Economic Club of New York hosts a webcast with Fed President of Atlanta Raphael Bostic.

A new trial is scheduled to open in Wiesbaden, Germany, in the ongoing Cum-Ex tax scandal.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states are scheduled to meet. Though March 30.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court hears an application by authorities for former President Jacob Zuma to be jailed for contempt of court; the graft ombudsman is also in court facing perjury charges.

Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida speaks at the IIF Washington Policy Summit. U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry will also participate.

ECB publishes its economic bulletin.

The Tokyo Olympics torch relay kicks off in Fukushima, Japan. The Games, delayed from 2020, are scheduled to begin on July 23.

The Olympic rings off Odaiba island in Tokyo.

 

Calendar***

Unemployment: Argentina, Israel

Hong Kong trade

Japan Tokyo CPI

Kenya GDP

Rate decision: Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Mexico

U.S. initial jobless claims, GDP

Euro-area flash PMIs

U.K. flash PMIs, inflation rate

Vietnam retail sales, industrial production, CPI, GDP, trade

Brazil central bank quarterly inflation report, IPCA-15 inflation

Philippines rate decision

Israel unemployment

Hong Kong trade

Hungary one-week deposit rate

France manufacturing confidence

Vietnam retail sales, GDP, trade, CPI

Zimbabwe CPI

 

Friday, March 26

February U.S. personal income and spending data comes in the wake of $600 stimulus checks but before the latest round of $1,400 payments began hitting Americans’ bank accounts. Spending may have been constrained by severe winter weather across much of the U.S. in February.

Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who serves as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s financier, has until the end of the week to appeal a ruling by a Cape Verde court that he be extradited to the U.S. to face money-laundering charges.

 

Calendar***

Trade: Argentina, Mexico

Colombia rate decision

Brazil current account

Germany IFO business climate

Singapore industrial production

Spain GDP

U.S. consumer income , wholesale inventories, University of Michigan consumer sentiment

South Korea consumer confidence

Italy consumer confidence, manufacturing confidence

Japan Tokyo CPI

Thailand foreign reserves, forward contracts, capacity utilization, manufacturing production index

Taiwan monitoring indicator

China BoP

Norway unemployment