Week Ahead

March 4th - March 8th



Swiss CPI (Mon):

February's CPI data will draw slightly more scrutiny than normal as it will include the latest estimate of rental price pressures; on January 23rd, Jordan said he expects some inflationary pressure from rents, though he did also expect an acceleration in prices during January. However, the January print came in markedly cooler than forecast at 1.3% vs expected and previous of 1.7% (SNB Q1 forecast 1.8%) and sparked a significant dovish shift in market pricing to over a 50% chance of a March cut vs circa. 25% pre-release (currently 60%). February's data will be scrutinised for any indication that January's print was not indicative of the pricing backdrop (possible, given January is often a more volatile reporting period) and as mentioned for signs of any rental pressures. The last rental update was provided in November and saw the index increase by 1.1% Q/Q or 2.2% Y/Y, a level judged as acceptable and sparked a dovish shift in pricing heading into the December gathering.

Tokyo CPI (Mon):

Tokyo inflation data for February is due early next week which is seen as a leading indicator for the national price trend, while participants will be eyeing the data to see if there is a further slowdown after Core CPI in Japan's capital slowed for a third consecutive month in January to its lowest in almost two years. As a reminder, Tokyo Inflation in January printed softer than expected with headline CPI at 1.6% vs. Exp. 2.0% (Prev. 2.4%) and CPI Ex. Fresh Food at 1.6% vs. Exp. 1.9% (Prev. 2.1%) which were their lowest readings since March 2022, while CPI Ex. Fresh Food & Energy printed its slowest pace of increase in 11 months at 3.1% vs. Exp. 3.4% (Prev. 3.5%). The softening in the Tokyo inflation data was helped by a decline in energy and utility costs, while the rise in the prices of accommodation had eased and there was also a moderation in the pace of increase of processed food prices which softened the blow from the largest upward driver of inflation. Furthermore, the national inflation data for Japan in January also showed a decline for the third consecutive month to reach its lowest in 22 months but was firmer than expected and matched the central bank's price target with National Core CPI at 2.0% vs. Exp. 1.8% (Prev. 2.3%).

US Primary Super Tuesday (Tue):

Super Tuesday is the busiest day in the pre-convention election calendar. For the Democrats, the stakes are minimal given incumbent President Biden is essentially guaranteed to secure the nomination. For Republican's the narrative isn't quite as clear, as former President Trump still faces opposition from Nikki Haley. However, Trump has taken a commanding lead in the race and Super Tuesday's primaries are unlikely to alter this narrative. Therefore, barring any significant Haley surprise, market reaction may well be minimal and in-fitting with primaries thus far. Post-Tuesday, attention turns to when Haley exits the race (she has committed to at least Super Tuesday) or failing that when Trump hits the 1215 delegate threshold needed to secure the nomination. Recently, Trump's team estimated this could occur as soon as 12th March when four primaries are held. Thus far, Trump has won 119 delegates vs Haley's 22.

US ISM Services PMI (Tue):

The headline is currently expected to pare a little to 53.3 in February vs the 53.4 in January. In its flash PMI data for the month, S&P Global noted that flash US services business activity fell to a fresh three-month low at 51.3 (from 52.5). The survey compiler said "services sector growth has slipped slightly, however, as has confidence in the year-ahead outlook among service providers, in part reflecting some pull back in the extent to which interest rates are expected to fall in 2024." Still, S&P welcomes news that both manufacturing and services are back in expansion territory again for the first time in three months. It added that the expansion was being accompanied by subdued price pressures. "Although up slightly in February, the survey's gauge of selling prices for goods and services continues to run at a level consistent with the Fed hitting its 2% inflation target, and a further fall in cost growth to the lowest since October 2020 hints at price pressures remaining subdued in the coming months."

UK Budget (Wed):

Next week focus in the UK will mostly be on the fiscal, rather than the monetary side of policy as UK Chancellor Hunt presents his spring budget. From a political perspective, the Chancellor is under immense pressure from his party to lower taxes in an attempt to turn the Conservative party's fortunes around ahead of this year's general election. In terms of what the Chancellor can actually "pull out of the hat", economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics anticipate a GBP 20bln tax package with the headroom afforded to the Chancellor based on the following two fiscal rules; 1) "government debt-to-GDP ratio must be forecast to be falling in five years' time" and 2) "public-sector borrowing has to be below 3% of GDP in the same year". Hunt has been afforded more "headroom" for spending on account of lower levels of borrowing since the Autumn Statement with PM expecting the OBR to lower its 2023/24 borrowing forecast to GBP 114bln from GBP 123.9bln. In terms of how the tax cuts will be implemented, PM anticipate a combination of a freeze in fuel duty, income tax reductions and some measures to support the housing market. Goldman Sachs suggest that the basic rate of income tax could be lowered by 2p, however, murmurings out of the Treasury have labelled an equivalent move for national insurance as "impossible at the moment". As such, the Chancellor may be forced to raise taxes elsewhere via measures such as hiking taxes on vapes and tobacco. Whilst the politics of the situation will see prompt Hunt to do as much as he can to lower the burden on UK taxpayers, the events of September 2022 via the Truss mini-budget remain at the forefront of investor sentiment and therefore anything the resembles a lack of fiscal prudence could prompt outsized moves the UK rates space, which could then have some spill over to monetary policy. That being said, under the assumption that measures in the budget comply with fiscal rules, ING is of the view that sizeable tax cuts "would add further impetus for the Bank of England to keep rates on hold a little longer". Finally, with regards to the Gilt borrowing remit, Morgan Stanley expects the 2024/25 Gross issuance figure to decline to GBP 252.7bln from GBP 257bln.


Australian GDP (Wed):

Australian GDP data for Q4 is scheduled next Wednesday which will provide a gauge into the health of the economy after the somewhat mixed readings in Q3. The previous economic growth data for Australia showed the economic growth missed expectations and slowed to 0.2% vs. Exp. 0.4% (Prev. 0.4%) to match its weakest quarterly growth in two years although GDP Y/Y topped forecasts and maintained the pace of expansion of 2.1% vs. Exp. 1.8% (Prev. 2.1%). The soft quarterly growth was helped by domestic final demand which contributed 0.5 percentage points to GDP growth and government expenditure rose 1.1% and accounted for a 0.2 percentage point increase to GDP with state and federal government social benefit schemes such as the Energy Bill Relief Fund and expansion of the Child Care Subsidy the main contributors, while capital and private investment also continued to increase. Conversely, goods industries weakened with the mining and agriculture industries declining by 1% and 3.5%, respectively, while utility services fell 2.6% amid less demand for heating during the quarter. Furthermore, GDP per capita had declined for a 3rd straight quarter and if it weren't for population growth or government spending, the economy would have been in a contraction. Looking ahead, the expectations are for Australia's GDP in Q4 to maintain its Q/Q expansion of 0.2% and for Y/Y growth to slow to 1.5% from 2.1%. Furthermore, the other metrics for economic activity in Q4 have been mixed as Retail Trade and Capital Expenditure topped forecasts but CPI and Construction Work Done were softer than expected, while monthly Manufacturing and Services PMI data were in contraction territory from October to December.

US Jobs Report (Fri):

The US economy is expected to have added 188k nonfarm payrolls in February, with the pace of payroll additions cooling from the 353k reported in January. Analysts said that the Feb data is likely to be supported by the unseasonably milder weather conditions in the month. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 3.7% (the Fed's December projections see unemployment ending this year at 4.1%, then remaining there over the course of its forecast range). Capital Economics is sceptical that the acceleration in employment growth in December and January marks a genuine resurgence in labour demand, noting that S&P Global's PMI data, regional Fed surveys, and the NFIB survey's hiring intentions indicator, and the downward trend in job openings allude to cooling conditions in the months ahead. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings are expected to rise by 0.2% M/M, cooling from the +0.6% rate seen in January. CapEco is beneath the consensus view on AHE, seeing gains of just +0.1% M/M, and sees the annual rate falling back to 4.3% Y/Y from 4.5% in January. It explains that January's slump in hours worked was concentrated in low paid retail and leisure sectors, and argues that January's jump in average earnings was a weather-related distortion, observing that during past three weather disruptions, average hourly earnings increased by an average of 0.44% in the weather-hit month and then only 0.13% in the following month.