After last week’s excitement, the coming week will be far more sedate in comparison.
The Group of 20 leaders meeting later in the week in South Korea will be all hot air and nothing concrete, except the group’s increasing irrelevance.
China’s October economic data is the major bit of economic news which will be released later in the week as well.
Trade, inflation, production, house prices and lending will be the major releases that will grab the attention of analysts and investors.
Already there’s a forecast that consumer inflation will reached an annual 4.1% in October, up from the 23 month high of 3.6% in September.
But producer price growth is likely to be subdued, confirming that the CPI is still being driven by high food prices and not non-food prices pressures.
At the G20 meeting starting on Thursday, China is likely to be a leading critic of American proposals to impose some sort of framework on trade imbalances.
It again criticised the proposal on Friday, and attacked the Fed for its second round of easing.
With President Obama in India and other Asian countries, the region will be the focus this week.
China is also miffed he is not visiting Beijing on the visit and instead chose to travel to India.
In Australia the unemployment data for October will be released on Thursday, after the ANZ job ads data today and several other private surveys.
The AMP’s chief economist Dr Shane Oliver says the October report "is likely to show another decent gain in jobs and a fall in unemployment to 5%".
We also get the NAB’s monthly business survey for October and the Westpac/Melbourne Institute’s latest’s consumer sentiment survey.
The federal government’s mid year economic and fiscal review will be released later in the week.
Besides the employment data, the key housing finance figures for September will be released.
After the 6.6% slump in October building approvals, revealed last week, and the sluggish figures on housing credit from the Reserve Bank, these figures will be watched to see if they translate into a slowdown in finance. The market is looking for a 2% rise.
In corporate news, today sees see Orica report full year results, and its spin off, Dulux, also reports its first set of profit figures as an independent company.
James Hardie reveals second half figures.
SP AusNet reports its half year figures later in the week, along with Leighton Holdings’ owner Hochtief AG in Germany.
Optus and its owner, Singtel report second quarter figures later in the week as well here and in Singapore.
Perhaps the most important corporate event will be the closing of the QR National offer on Friday.
We can expect a fair bit of publicity about the progress of the offer this week
Annual meetings are thick on the ground this week.
Meetings will be held by companies including Wesfarmers, ConnectEast Group, Seven Group Holdings, Breville Group, Charter Hall Group, Computershare, Fairfax Media, BlueScope Steel, Austereo Group, Myer Holdings, Ariadne, Ausgold, Energy Development, McPhersons, Mincor, Toro Energy, Lend Lease, Fleetwood, Water Co and PMP.
Offshore, besides the Chinese data, there are some important figures in the US and Europe, plus some earnings figures from both areas.
European Union investor confidence figure are released tonight, growth estimates for the UK, as well as trade figures for September.
UK Manufacturing and production data for September are also due for release.
The Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report is out on Wednesday. Inflation is running at 3.1% (annual) in the UK, well above the bank’s target of 2%
Profits reported will include Barclays bank, fund manager Schroeders, mobile phone giant Vodafone and retailer Marks and Spencer.
Credit Agricole of France and Spain’s Telefonica also update the markets
Aircraft engine maker Rolls Royce is to report on Friday.
The company is under scrutiny after one of its engines on a Qantas A380 suffered a mechanical fault, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing, and another engine on a Qantas 747 had a problem on Friday.
In the US the reporting season for the September quarter is easing.
This week, two major Dow components, retailer Macys and tech giant Cisco, are due to report.
Thomson Reuters reported on Friday that of the 436 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings for the third quarter, 74% have exceeded analysts’ expectation.
America’s trade deficit for September will be released midweek, the last major set of figures ahead of the second estimate for third quarter growth due at the end of the month.
Wednesday is a big day in the US, with international trade data and jobless claims figures set for release.
US consumer sentiment data is due on Friday with the latest Reuters/Michigan consumer sentiment index for November.
In Europe, third quarter EU gross domestic product data is due, along with industrial production figures for September.
