Trump heads to Singapore for highly anticipated talks with Kim Jong-Un
US President Donald Trump travelled to Singapore yesterday for the highly anticipated talks between himself and North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. The talks which are scheduled to take place tomorrow, will be the first in decades, after years of hostility between the two countries. It is hoped this meeting will allow the two countries to ‘establish a new relationship’ and potentially lead to denuclearisation.
Following the G7 summit, Trump tweeted that he had instructed his aides to pull out of the agreement. A further tweet signalled he would look into imposing tariffs on automobile imports into the US market.
Trump's suggestion that Russia should re-enter the group, gained no traction with other world leaders. He once again threatened to repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement in order to seek separate agreements with Canada and Mexico if talks on an updated agreement did not end well.
Monday
Today was a quiet start to the week. The only economic data released was from the UK. The Manufacturing Production figure released this morning, was expected to bounce up from the last reading of -0.1%, to 0.3% but in fact posted at 1.4%. The Goods Trade Balance, which looks at the difference between imports and exports, posted at -14.0B.
Tuesday
The market focus on Tuesday will begin with the UK as the latest Labour Data is released. The Average Earning Index is expected to downtick to 2.5%, whilst the Claimant Count Change is expected to bounce back from last month’s bearish 31.2k to 11.3k. The Unemployment Rate is expected to remain stable at 4.2%. Across the pond, the US will release their latest reading of CPI which is expected to remain static at 0.2% month on month, however the year on year figure is expected to uptick to 2.7%.
Wednesday
Wednesday will begin with the release of the Inflation figure from the UK. CPI is expected to remain at the 13 month low figure of 2.4%. Across the pond, the US PPI reading is expected to rise to 2.9%, from 2.7% previously. The Federal Reserve will be releasing their latest interest rate decision. They are expected to raise rates to 2%, the second rise this year. Eyes will be on the FOMC statement and economic projections for any further hints as to whether the markets could expect to see one or two more hikes this year from the Fed.
Thursday
Thursday will be another busy day for the markets, as the European Central Bank could be preparing to announce the end of quantitative easing, in the press conference following the ECB latest meeting. The Central Bank are expected to keep rates on hold but the markets will be looking for hawkish tones of President, Mario Draghi’s speech. The speculation that Draghi will signal that QE will be ending this year, came after ECB officials have been reported to have said there ‘is a real chance of policy change’ in the upcoming meeting. Back in the UK, the Retail Sales figure for May is forecast to drop from 1.6% previously to 0.5% in this reading. Across the pond, the US will release their version of the Retail Sales figure, which is expected to uptick to 0.4%.
Friday
Friday will be a quiet end to the week, as the markets continue to digest the events of the week. The Eurozone will see the release of the Final CPI reading, which is expected to post 1.9%. In the US, the Empire State Manufacturing Index is expected to post 18.6, with the Prelim University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment is forecast to post 98.5.