The last day of the week will deliver quite a big punch, with lots of important reports due today.
Early on, Japan published its unemployment rate for September, which was 2.8%, as expected. The industrial production report for the same period showed a drop to -2.3%, a tendency seen in other economies as well.
At the same time, consumer confidence in Japan improved in October, rising to 39.2, though the housing starts report was a disappointment.
But more importantly, today there are many GDP and inflation rate updates expected.
France came first with preliminary inflation data for October. The report was better than anticipated at 2.6%.
Then, Spain published its flash GDP growth rate reports for the third quarter of 2021, which were disappointing in both quarterly and annual terms.
Germany’s own GDP data was a bit of a mixed bag. YoY, the GDP growth rate was 2.5%, as expected, but the quarterly reading was below the forecast at 1.8%.
Italy, on the other hand, pleased investors with both GDP reports. Its inflation rate for October is also shaping up to be better than expected at 2.9%.
Most importantly, there was eurozone-wide data on both the GDP and inflation. Core inflation in October was 2.1%, better than the forecast of 1.9%. YoY, inflation grew to 4.1%, significantly higher than the forecast of 3.7%. The monthly reading was 0.8%, slightly higher than the previous month.
Both quarterly and yearly preliminary GDP reports were above the forecasted levels, coming in at 2.2% and 3.7%, respectively.
Later today we expect the monthly GDP report for August from Canada.
Meanwhile, the United States is going to hop on the inflation bandwagon to deliver a bunch of PCE and core PCE reports for September, together with the final Michigan consumer sentiment survey for October.
In other news, the leaders of the G20 countries are gathering today in Rome, Italy for an important summit. They have all but agreed on an international corporate tax minimum rate of 15%, but climate change is another matter where opinions might diverge. The absence of China, one of the biggest pollutants in the world, at the summit might prove problematic.
