Week Ahead & Headlines

​ECB, Canada Set Rates; U.S. CPI Report, Japan GDP ---Upcoming Week March 8-12

Coronavirus cases and deaths, including those from more infectious mutations, are still raging across much of the world, leading to longer or newly-imposed lockdowns.

The WHO is warning of infection rebounds in Europe and elsewhere as countries and people let their guards down.

Finland will trigger a state of emergency to fight the virus.

Tokyo extended its state of emergency.

Italy has tightened restrictions and Sweden may impose its first lockdown ever in Stockholm as infections surge.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to relax restrictions despite Germany’s still-high infection rate, acknowledging people’s lockdown fatigue.

Scotland may accelerate easing restrictions because infections are falling and 30% of the population is now vaccinated. England will begin easing its strict lockdown restrictions.

The U.S. has begun inoculations with a third vaccine -- the single-shot made by Johnson & Johnson. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got the shot Covaxin, developed in India, on March 1. He aims to inoculate a quarter of his country’s population by August. India is battling the world’s second-largest outbreak, after the U.S.

More than 115 million people globally have been infected with the coronavirus, and the death toll has surpassed 2.5 million. More than 279 million vaccines have been given worldwide.

Earnings for the week:

Adidas, AIA Group, AMC Entertainment, Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali, dating app Bumble, Campbell Soup, Cathay Pacific Airways, China Telecom, Continental, Deutsche Post, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Direct Line Insurance, DocuSign, French eyewear manufacturer EssilorLuxottica, Foxtons, Gem Diamonds, Go-Ahead Group, H&R Block, broadcaster ITV, JD.com, Legal & General, Lukoil, M&G, National Express Group, Pearson, Prada, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rothschild & Co., Savills, Standard Life Aberdeen and advertising giant WPP.

 

Monday, March 8

The annual session of China’s National People’s Congress continues in Beijing. The country’s biggest political meeting has returned to its original schedule after being delayed last year because of the pandemic.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey discusses the economic outlook on a webinar hosted by the Resolution Foundation.

The Hoover Institution director and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice host a conversation with four female national security and foreign policy scholars, in honor of International Women’s Day.

U.K. begins to ease lockdown with schools reopening in England. Teachers and older students will undergo multiple Covid tests. People are also allowed to meet one person from outside their household, and care home residents will be allowed one regular visitor.

Libya’s parliament to discuss the prime minister-designate’s proposal for the structure of a new unity government.

Deadline for former South Africa President Jacob Zuma to respond to a contempt of court application. He’s also facing a May trial on corruption, money laundering and racketeering charges.

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge discuss the role of U.S. leadership in a changing world, hosted by the Atlantic Council and the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Jury selection begins in the trial of four former Minneapolis police officers accused of murdering George Floyd. His brutal death last year, caught on video, ignited weeks of protests against police brutality and racism.

Police officers behind a metal fence in front of the White House when demonstrators protested the killing of George Floyd on June 2, 2020.

Demonstrators at the Women’s Strike NYC Rally in Washington Square Park in New York, March 8, 2020. International Women’s Day is a global call to action for gender equality and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements made by women.

The United Nations marks International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a Covid-19 world.”



Calendar***

U.S. wholesale inventories

Japan BoP, bank lending, bankruptcies, leading index

Industrial production: Germany, Spain, Norway

Greece GDP

Lithuania CPI

Latvia CPI, unemployment

 

Tuesday, March 9

Jeffrey Gundlach speaks on DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund webcast

Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joins Paul Kelly, chief medical officer of Australia, for a discussion of public health strategies.

Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo delivers a state-of-the-nation address, days after the country’s supreme court rejected a challenge to the outcome of December’s presidential vote.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development publishes its interim economic outlook.



Calendar***

CPI: Mexico, Hungary, Ukraine

New Zealand manufacturing activity, ANZ business confidence,

Australia NAB business confidence/conditions

South Korea BoP

Japan GDP, cash earnings, household spending, money stock, machine tool orders

China money supply, new yuan loans, manpower survey

Philippines unemployment

Taiwan CPI, trade

GDP: Bulgaria, Eurozone, South Africa, Romania

Germany trade

Italy industrial production

Lithuania PPI

Kazakhstan rate decision

 

Wednesday, March 10

EIA crude oil inventory report

AMC Entertainment 4Q earnings

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe gives a speech in Sydney.

French National Assembly debates President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to add environmental protection to the constitution, via a referendum.

French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune travels to Poland to discuss LGBT rights.

Texas, the second most populous U.S. state, will allow all businesses to openat 100% capacity. The state has also lifted its mask mandate and all other anti-pandemic restrictions, defying warnings from health officials.

The U.S. February consumer price index will offer the latest look at price pressures bubbling up in pockets of the U.S. economy. Economists are watching inflation metrics closely as the debate continues over the future path of prices.



Calendar***

Canada rate decision

U.S. CPI, monthly budget statement

China PPI, CPI

New Zealand REINZ house sales

Industrial production: France, Estonia, Slovenia

Australia Westpac consumer confidence

Israel GDP

CPI: Egypt, Czech, Russia, Belarus, Norway, Denmark

Turkey unemployment

Bulgaria retail sales

Kazakhstan international reserves

 

Thursday, March 11

ECB rates decision; President Christine Lagarde briefing

ECB holds its monetary policy meeting and updates its economic forecasts. Discussions will likely focus on whether the recent rise in government bond yields is an unwarranted tightening of financial conditions that needs to be addressed.

Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Lawrence Schembri gives a speech via videoconference.

Norway central bank Deputy Governor Ida Wolden Bache gives a speech about digital central bank currency on a Nordea Markets webinar.

Swiss government updates economics forecasts.

Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro’s Colombian financier Alex Saab, wanted in the U.S. on corruption charges, returns to court to challenge his house arrest in Cape Verde.

OPEC monthly Oil Market Report includes demand forecasts and production estimates.

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, part of the men’s European Tour, is held at the heavily-bunkered Education City Golf Club in Doha. Through March 14.



Calendar***

Serbia rate decision

CPI: Argentina, Romania

Brazil IPCA inflation

Peru rate decision

U.S. initial jobless claims

New Zealand food prices

Trade balance: Israel, Hungary

Japan PPI

Sweden unemployment

Current account: South Africa, Turkey

South Africa manufacturing production

Russia gold and forex reserve

 

Friday, March 12

No major events today.



Calendar***

Canada unemployment

Brazil retail sales

New Zealand business NZ manufacturing PMI

U.K. GDP, industrial production, trade

Hong Kong PPI, industrial production

Thailand foreign reserves

U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment, PPI

Industrial production: India, Eurozone, Malaysia, U.K., Turkey, Mexico

CPI: India, Germany, Spain, Serbia

Trade: Philippines, Russia, Romania

Spain retail sales