por admin » Dom Dic 25, 2016 6:14 pm
Global Economy Week Ahead: Kuroda Speech, Japan CPI, U.S. Pending Home Sales
Figures from the ECB are expected to show a continued modest rise in bank lending
By WSJ Staff Dec. 25, 2016 3:00 p.m. ET
People walked down a street decorated with Christmas lights in Tokyo last week. Japan is expected to report a ninth consecutive month of decline in core consumer prices. ENLARGE
People walked down a street decorated with Christmas lights in Tokyo last week. Japan is expected to report a ninth consecutive month of decline in core consumer prices. Photo: Bloomberg News
A spate of data out of Japan, after a recent upbeat economic assessment by the country’s central bank, highlights this week’s calendar. Also, a peek at home sales in the U.S. for November will offer early clues on how the rise in interest rates is affecting the housing market and U.S. economy.
MONDAY: Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda speaks before business leaders in Tokyo (Sunday night Eastern U.S. time). The central bank last week raised its assessment for the economy due in part to a weakening yen. The change in circumstances has led to talk of the BOJ raising interest rates.
TUESDAY: Japan releases national consumer-price data for November (Monday night Eastern U.S. time), likely showing the BOJ’s 2% inflation target is still far from reach. Economists expect core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, fell 0.4% on the year, the ninth consecutive month of decline. Data on household spending, retail sales, unemployment and industrial production are also due from Japan this week.
WEDNESDAY: In the U.S., a report by the National Association of Realtors on pending home sales in November will offer an early look at how the rise in interest rates since Donald Trump’s election win is affecting the housing market. NAR’s chief economist recently said he expects sales to pick up temporarily as buyers attempt to lock in rates before they rise further. He expects sales to soften in 2017.
THURSDAY: Figures released by the European Central Bank are expected to show a continued rise in bank lending to households and businesses during November, but at roughly the same, modest pace that previously suggested to policy makers that continued stimulus was needed throughout 2017. Italy’s banking system is front and center of concerns about the health of the eurozone’s financial system as 2016 draws to a close. But overall credit growth has been weak and indicative of both a reluctance to borrow and an unwillingness to lend, hampering the currency area’s weak recovery.
The U.S. provides an early look at trade data for November. The strengthening of the dollar in recent months threatens to increase the U.S. trade gap with other nations and restrain overall economic growth.