This Week's Chart, Next Week's Markets
Olympic snow, Gordie Howe Bridge, Japanese stimulus, European and U.S. inflation
This is a chart to remember the next time to take a bathroom break during this week’s Olympic coverage. Makes you think. Meanwhile, as Europeans count their medals in obscure snow sports, their leaders will be parsing a speech by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on transatlantic relations at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Vice President J.D. Vance, who made a stink about endangered democracy in Europe at last year’s event, was set to return, but organizers were relieved at the scheduling change.
On the data front, markets may react to these headlines:
Monday-Friday: Watch the ups and downs of America’s second-largest trading relationship as the Gordie Howe Bridge saga continues to unfold. There will be threats of tariffs on Canadian goods and talk of abrogating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement altogether.
Monday: Japanese data on industrial production and capacity utilization will fuel speculation about how much stimulus to expect from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi following her landslide re-election.
Thursday: Euro area consumer price inflation is forecast to remain unchanged at around 2.4% year over year, which may boost the odds of further European Central Bank rate cuts amid weakening growth.
Friday: Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, should come in near last month’s 2.8% print, but any deviation will fuel debates about how much scope remains for rate cuts.