- Trump to Promote America First at WEF;
- Carney and Kuroda to Speak on Panel in Davos;
- US GDP Release Follows Modest UK Report.
Trump to Promote America First at WEF
It’s been another interesting week in financial markets and as it draws to a close, there are still a few more headline events to squeeze in that could shake things up.
The most obvious of these will be Donald Trump’s speech at Davos which always promises to be eventful. Trump is widely expected to push his America first agenda while making the argument for fair and reciprocal trade and claiming the country is now open for business. The visit is clearly an attempt to pitch the country to business leaders following the recent tax overhaul while at the same time reaffirming the US’ position in the world and even perhaps clearing up some of the damage caused by recent unsavoury leaks.
Carney and Kuroda to Speak on Panel in Davos
Another notable event at the World Economic Forum today will be the panel discussion on the Global Economic Outlook, which will include the heads of the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan on the panel. Mark Carney and Haruhiko Kuroda will both be part of the discussion at a time when both central banks continue to pursue very loose unconventional monetary policy measures.
The BoE may have raised interest rates last year but this only took them back to pre-Brexit levels and with inflation seen easing from the highs and growth slowing, the central bank may hold off on more. It will be interesting to hear the views of both central banks and whether they allude to their exit strategies from both these unconventional policy measures and, arguably more importantly, the timing of it.
US GDP Release Follows Modest UK Report
Outside of Davos, there’ll also be a focus on the economic data on Friday. The UK has already released growth figures for the fourth quarter which slightly surpassed expectations but still highlighted the gradual slowdown the country is experiencing. The pound was slightly buoyed by the higher than expected reading, adding to gains already seen earlier in the session and returning close to yesterday’s highs against the dollar. The pound is now trading above the lows seen in the run up to the EU referendum against the dollar although this is also largely due to the greenback depreciation.
The US will release GDP data for the fourth quarter today and it is expected to show the economy grew by 3% on an annualised basis, slightly down from 3.2% in Q3 but still representing another strong quarter. This will be accompanied by durable goods orders for December and retail sales data from Canada which should ensure it’s another lively session for markets.
