During last week, major energy commodities changed direction and rallied while precious metals continued to trade down. Last week several U.S reports were published: U.S GDP for the third quarter was revised up to a growth rate of 3%; the Philly Fed index bounced back in the December Survey; the U.S jobless claims rose by 17k to reach 361k. These news items may have affected commodities prices during the week as most of them showed progress in the U.S economy. Next week is Christmas and as the year is winding down the markets is likely to slow down, which could raise the volatility in the financial markets. Several publications may affect the financial markets during the upcoming week. These include: French Consumer Spending, Italian bond auction, U.S pending home sales, U.S consumer confidence report, U.S new home sales, Bank of Japan minutes of recent monetary policy meeting and U.S. jobless claims. Here is an economic news calendar projection for December 24th to December 28th regarding the U.S, EU and, Japan.
(All times GMT):
Monday, December 24th
Bank Holiday
23:50 – Japan’s CSPI: This report examines the changes in the price of services purchased by corporations. In the recent report the CSPI declined by 0.7% (M-o-M); this news may affect the Japanese yen;
Tuesday, December 25th
Bank Holiday
23:50 – Bank of Japan –Monetary Policy Minutes: Bank of Japan will publish the minutes of the recent monetary policy meeting and rate decision. In the recent meeting, BOJ decided to expand its asset purchase program by 10 trillion yen ($120 billion). The minutes could offer some insight behind the recent decision and could affect the Yen, other currencies and commodities;
Wednesday, December 26th
Bank Holiday
14:00 – U.S S&P CS Composite: This report estimates the changes in the selling price of single family in the top 20 metropolitan areas; this is another indicator for the changes in the inflation; in the recent report, the rate increased to 3%; this report could affect the U.S and consequently commodities prices;
Thursday, December 27th
13:30 – U.S. Jobless Claims Weekly Report: this report will refer to the weekly changes in the initial jobless claims for the week ending on December 21st; in the previous report the jobless claims rose by 17k to reach 361k; this upcoming weekly report may affect the U.S dollar and consequently commodities rates;
15:00 – U.S Consumer Confidence: according to the recent monthly report, the consumer confidence index increased again in October (M-o-M). The current expectations are that the December index may further rise; this report might affect commodities markets including the oil and natural gas markets;
15:00 – U.S. New Home Sales: This report will refer to November 2012; in the previous report (for October), the sales of new homes slipped to an annual rate of 368,000 – a 0.3% drop (month over month); if the number of home sales will rally, it may indicate a sign of some recovery in the U.S real estate market which may also affect the strength of the USD;
Friday, December 28th
Tentative – Italian 10 Year Bond Auction: the Italian government will come out with its monthly bond auction; in the recent bond auction, which was held during the last week of November, the average rate reached 4.45% – the lowest rate in recent months; if the rate will further fall, it could pull up the Euro as it shows a vote of confidence in the EU;
07:45 – French Consumer Spending: This report examines the developments in the changes in inflation adjusted value of goods consumed; in the previous report, the index edged down by 0.2% (month-over-month); this report may affect the Euro;
15:00 – U.S. Pending Home Sales: This report will show the shifts in pending home sales in the U.S. for November; in the previous update, the pending home sales index increased by 5.2% (M-over-M). These data are another indicator for the progress in America’s housing market; if the housing data will show further growth it may pull up the U.S dollar;
15:30 – EIA U.S. Natural Gas Storage Update: the EIA weekly update of the U.S. natural gas market will pertain to the recent developments in natural gas production, storage, consumption and rates as of December 21st; in recent weekly report, natural gas storage fell by 82 Bcf to 3,724 Bcf;
15:30 – U.S Crude Oil Stockpiles Report: the EIA (Energy Information Administration) will be publish its weekly report on the U.S oil and petroleum stockpiles for the week ending on December 14th; in the recent weekly update for December 14th, stockpiles declined by 1.9 ml bl to reach 1,791.4 ml bl.
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