With Christmas week finally upon us, we can expect a quiet week on the data front. Tuesday we can look forward to Australian monetary policy meeting minutes and Canadian retail sales figures. Wednesday, the US and UK are set to release an unchanged Final GDP figure with US consumer confidence release set to be released later that day and Thursday Canadian GDP is set to increase to its highest level since June 2021.
Europe faces a critical week of decisions relating to the Omicron variant which could disrupt Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Many European countries are weighing up plans and more restrictions to try and reduce the spread of the new Covid variant, as the Netherlands prepare for a new lockdown and many of their neighbours preparing for the same. The US is not planning any further lockdowns with Joe Biden set to warn those unvaccinated on Tuesday.
Energy shortages are set to cripple Europe this week as freezing weather is set to boost demand with supply unable to keep up. In several European countries the temperature is set to fall below zero degrees Celsius, and Russia who capped supplies over the weekend are expecting to keep supplies limited to Europe.
| Date | Region | Release | Previous | Consensus |
| Tuesday 21st | AUD | Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes | ||
| Tuesday 21st | CAD | Retail Sales | -0.60% | 1.00% |
| Wednesday 22nd | GBP | Final GDP | 1.30% | 1.30% |
| Wednesday 22nd | USD | Final GDP | 2.10% | 2.10% |
| Thursday 23rd | CAD | GDP | 0.10% | 0.80% |
| Thursday 23rd | USD | Core PCE Price Index | 0.40% | 0.40% |
| Share Index | Prev. Close | Open |
| FTSE100 | 7269.92 | 7269.92 |
| DAX | 15531.69 | 15152.56 |
| CAC40 | 6926.63 | 6783.83 |