020 7898 0500A challenging week for the US turned positive on Friday with unexpected better than forecast non-farm employment data for the fifth month in a row. This allowed the US some much needed-relief after a torrid week which showed negative employment indicators and a worse-than-expected trade balance figure, which led to banks decreasing their 2015 US growth forecasts.
We can expect a quiet first half of the week for the US this week until Thursday, with little data releases due before then. The G20 meetings take place on Monday and Tuesday, in which reports usually come out during the day with news that has been discussed. In addition to this, we have a couple of Federal Reserve members speaking, with the spotlight on when the US might raise their Interest rates.
Thursday is expected to be the busiest day of the week with retails sale figures and the weekly unemployment claims data which are both expected to show improvements compared to the previous releases, followed on Friday with consumer sentiment data (a leading indicator for consumer spending in the US).
