Weekly outlook for April 4-8

Here is a weekly forecast for April 4th to 8th presenting the main news items, reports and events scheduled for this week related to US, Canada, Australia and Europe.

During the upcoming week, Trading Energy will continue to update on the events from the Middle East and Japan that might affect energy and precious metal’s prices such as crude oil price and gold prices.

(all times GMT):

  1. Monday 4th of April 2.30 – Australian trade of Balance: The upcoming report will pertain February 2011. In the recent report about January 2011, the seasonally adjusted balance of goods and services declined from a surplus of 2,018 million AUD to 1,875 million AUD, which is a 143 million AUD drop. Despite the decline in surplus, there was a rise in export of non-monetary gold by 422 million AUD (see here last report);
  2. Tuesday 5th of April 5.30 – Reserve Bank of Australia – rate statement: The interest rate of Australia’s Reserve Bank remained unchanged in the past five months at 4.75%. Since the inflation rate is consistent with the Bank’s monetary policy, and the labor force remained strong, it’s likely that the interest rate will remain unchanged (see here previous report);
  3. Wednesday 6th of April 14.30 – Australian Bureau of Stat. will publish the unemployment rate: This monthly report will show the Australasian unemployment rate during March 2011. Australia is a key player in exporting major commodities such as coal, gold and crude oil. In the recent report about February, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.0% compared to January; the employment decreased by 10 thousands to 11.412 million people; and unemployment reached 604 thousand. (For the previous report check in this link);
  4. Wednesday 6th of April 15.30 – EIA report about Crude oil inventories: The EIA (Energy Information Administration) will issue a weekly report on the recent changes in petroleum stocks and crude oil prices in the U.S. In the last report, petroleum stocks increased by 0.2%, which is a rise of 3.3 million barrels of crude oil and reached 1,768 million barrels. (see here my recent review on crude oil stocks);
  5. Thursday 7th of April 13.30 – Department of Labor report – US unemployment claims: For the week ending on Mar 26th, there a decline in initial claims by 6,000, to reach 388,000 claims; the insured unemployment rate still remained unchanged at 3.0% for the week ending on Mar 19th; and the number of insured unemployment was 3.714 million, a decrease of 51,000 compare to the previous week’s number (see here my review on the recent US Labor report);
  6. Thursday 7th of April 13.30 – ECB president’s speech: The speculation around ECB’s decision to increase the basic internet rate continues to rise, especially since the inflation in March was 2.6% – higher than expectations.   Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, will address the recent macro economic conditions in the Euro zone in the upcoming ECB meeting in Frankfurt;
  7. Thursday 7th of April 15.30 – EIA report about Natural gas storage: In its weekly report, EIA will report the changes in natural gas storage, production and consumption in the US regarding last week. In the recent EIA report natural gas storage rose for by 12 billion cubic feet to reach 1,624 billion cubic feet for all lower 48 states; This injection was due to the rise of 25 Bcf in the producing region’s storage (see here my previous natural gas storage review);
  8. Friday 8th of April 12.00PM – Canada unemployment rate report: In the recent employment report regarding February 2011, the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.8%; the employment increased by 15 thousand and in the past three months by a total of 115 thousand; however the manufacturing industry remained unchanged in 2011. (see here previous report);

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