What to expect during the European trading market:

The annual pace of decline in UK Industrial Production is expected to moderate for the fourth consecutive month, with output shrinking -11.4%.  UK Manufacturing Production is set to contract at the slowest pace since February, down -12.1% in the year to June. More of the same is likely ahead: July’s manufacturing PMI unexpectedly ticked into expansionary territory for the first time in 15 months, suggesting a further rebound is to be expected. However, as we mentioned in our British Pound Weekly Forecast, these readings are unlikely to prove particularly market-moving considering traders have likely already priced in the stabilizing effects of the ample global fiscal boost and inventory restocking that is driving current improvements into the exchange rate. Indeed, the question to be answered from here is what will happen after the flow of government cash dries up and the inventory cycle runs its course.

Nationwide Consumer Confidence in the UK rose to 60 in July, the highest reading in over a year. The details of the report were not nearly as encouraging as the headline figure, however. The percentage of survey respondents expecting a pickup in employment in the next 6 months fell to 20% while 60% said they were expecting “not many” jobs to be available. This amounts to the worst set of labor market expectations among polled consumers since those recorded in April. Such attitudes may become more widespread as the jobless rate continues to push higher, weighing on consumer spending and dashing hopes of a meaningful economic recovery in the foreseeable future.

In the Euro Zone, Retail Sales are expected to decline -2.2% in the year to June, a modest improvement from the previous month’s -3.3% contraction. However, the reading still clearly falls along the down trend that has guided receipts lower since December 2006. Further, a downside surprise is not out of the question considering the unexpectedly dismal German retail sales result for the same period that was revealed earlier this week. Germany is the largest economy in the Euro Zone and lackluster activity there may well drag down region-wide performance. Evaluating the longer-term outlook, any sustained return to growth in retail spending is sure to be marginal at best with the unemployment rate set to hit 9% for the first time in 5 years in 2009 and surpass 10% in 2010 according to European Commission estimates.

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Tags: Consumer Confidence, exports, industrial production, Retail Sales, service sector, stimulus, trade balance

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 2:15 am and is filed under Australian Dollar, British Pound, Currency Trading, Economic Indicators, Economy, Euro, Investments and Trades. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.