From the U.S.debt ceiling deliberations to rate cuts in China, the pace of U.S. retail sales and the job picture in Europe. I’m Jeff Kleintop with 90 seconds of what you need to know for the week ahead.
Stocks in the U.S. were weighed down by the looming debt ceiling last week. While the White House meeting didn’t yieldany big breakthrough., staffs continued meeting to discuss a deal. The president and four top congressional leaderswill meet again early this week as the June 1st deadline looms.
A deal may be taking shape in the form of clawing back billions of unspent COVID money, reforming the energy project permitting process, and agreeing to negotiate a set of spending cuts in the upcoming budget package. All seems like it could work, but getting a deal passed by both chambers in time is still a risk.
China’s April economic data, due Wednesday will likely see a production and retail sales jump in comparison to last year’s terrible numbers during the lockdowns. But the month on month figures may show slowing reopening momentum and open the door to a rate cut by China’s central bank. Auto sales will likely boost April U.S. retail sales due Tuesday.
Auto sales jumped to 15.9 million annualized units in April from 14.8 in March. But other categories may signal softness.
Also on Thursday, the U.K. will release its latest batch of labor market data. The Bank of England raised its target rate by 25 basis points last week. Another strong reading for wages may keep policymakers on a path of higher rates, with the next meeting on June 22nd.