It’s another busy few days of economic data in the wake of last week’s barrage of central bank action. Here’s the main events to mark in your trading diary. 

Jay Powell 

After the Fed raised rates by 75bps last week we can start hearing from policymakers again – the usual Fed speakers will be doing the rounds. Chief among these is Jay Powell, who is due to testify on the Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report before the Senate Banking Committee. The two-day hearing begins on Wednesday, and we can expect further clarification on where the Fed is at in terms of inflation and the likely path of monetary policy. 

RBA 

Early in the week we hear twice from Reserve Bank of Australia governor Lowe. On Tuesday there’s also the minutes from the last RBA policy meeting, at which it surprised markets with a 50bps hike. Then Lowe is back in action on Friday. 

Home sales 

On Tuesday the US existing housing sales figures are released for a read on the state of the property sector. Mortgage demand has collapsed, indicating house sales have slowed as consumers feel the pinch from rising interest rates and high inflation. 

Inflation 

The focus for sterling and other UK assets will be the latest inflation data on Wednesday. Coming after last week’s Bank of England meeting, it will give more fuel for GBP crosses to move. CPI jumped to 9% in April from 7% in March, indicative of the sharp move higher in prices. 

PMIs 

Thursday is PMI day with flash manufacturing and services surveys for the Eurozone, UK and US due out. These will help provide a snapshot of global economic conditions and show whether businesses are feeling the effect of high cost-input inflation and whether they think they can continue to pass this on to consumers. 

Economic calendar