This week, markets are looking for Wall Street earnings after the end of the first quarter of the new year as the results of many large companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Google are expected to be announced.
This week's economic calendar comes with a few important economic data, as follows:
Australian inflation data
Australian inflation data is expected to be released for the first quarter of 2018. The consumer price index is expected to slow to 0.5% from the last quarter of 2017, which rose by 0.6%, and weak inflation continues to play a role in keeping the Reserve Bank Australia's monetary policy unchanged.
ECB policy meeting
The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged next Thursday. ECB President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference following the decision and markets will wait for further clues about the timing of ending the € 2.5 trillion monetary stimulus program.
BoJ policy meeting
The Bank of Japan is also expected to keep its monetary easing policy unchanged and hold interest rates at -0.1%. There will also be a press conference for Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan, to discuss the reasons for the decision. The Bank will also publish its quarterly outlook report, which contains forecasts of economic growth and inflation.
Growth data in the US and UK
Eyes will be on the US growth data for the first quarter of 2018, the markets will be looking closely at GDP and whether it will support the interest rate hike more than twice this year. GDP is expected to grow by 2.3% after growing by 2.9% in the previous quarter.
Also, attention will be focused on growth data in the UK and whether it will give further support on the health of the economy and the likelihood that the Bank of England will raise interest rates this year. GDP is expected to grow by 0.4% in the first quarter of 2018.
