- The Bank of England’s April MPC meeting (1100 GMT) is likely to bring no surprises. Although the possibility of a rate cut – to counter the risk of a prolonged period of deflation – was recently mooted by the Chief Economist Andy Haldane, remarks by other MPC members suggest that policy is likely to remain unchanged into the election.
- Indeed, worries about disinflation risks will have receded a little in light of sterling retreating from its recent highs. In advance of the policy decision, UK trade data for February (0830 GMT) are likely to show a widening of the trade deficit relative to the surprising improvement seen in January, adding to anxieties about the UK’s external financing position coming in advance of the uncertain election.
- In Europe, the key release will be the morning’s German trade and industrial production data (0600 GMT). Following the publication of weaker-than-expected factory orders yesterday, the risks for the latter are skewed to the downside relative to consensus expectations of a 0.1% monthly output gain.
- US data on inventories (1400 GMT) for Feb will provide further colour for the weather-afflicted Q1 GDP picture, while weekly jobless claims data (1230 GMT) will, as ever, be of interest, especially in the context of the weaker-than-expected March employment print last week.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com