Week Ahead starting 13/3/23: ECB; UK data; Volkswagen; Deliveroo; Adobe results

Brace for an expected interest rate hike from the European Central Bank and plenty of UK data ahead of the budget. Results of note include those from Volkswagen (VOWG_p), Porsche (PSHG_p), Deliveroo (ROO) and Adobe (ADBE).

The European Central Bank is set to raise interest rates by a further half a percentage point this week. The bigger question is how many more hikes may be coming. The hawks at the ECB have become more vocal, led by Bundesbank head Joachim Nagel. Although the German economy may be in a recession, Nagel is calling for more aggressive action on inflation. The recent ECB minutes showed that several governing council members wanted to go harder than a half-point move at the last meeting, calling for 0.75 percentage points. They relented because of a pledge to raise rates by another 50 basis points this month.

Australia & UK

The last few months have been challenging for the UK economy. In the aftermath of the emergency autumn Budget, the narrative has been pessimistic. Back then, the Office for Budget Responsibility, the IMF, and the Bank of England all doubled down on their depressing outlooks for the UK economy, arguing that the country was already in recession and likely to remain there for at least two years.

From Australia, we've got consumer confidence numbers and also business confidence numbers from the United Kingdom. Unemployment numbers might give us an in-point here. Also, consumer price numbers from the US and the API crude oil inventory data out on Tuesday. WTI on Friday heading for its biggest weekly loss in five weeks due to worries about the prospect of steeper interest rate heights from the US.

Japan & China

We have the Bank of Japan minutes. That's quite crucial given that the central bank has just had its last meeting with Kuroda. Plus, look out for Chinese retail sales and industrial production. For more on Chinese data and what it means for the China's reopening play, have a look at my show on the IG platform d 'China's reopening - surge or sag？'.

Growth & interest rates

Also on Wednesday, we've got the budget from the United Kingdom, along with the retail sales number from the US and producer prices as well, along with the EIA crude oil inventory report. Now, moving on to the latter half of the week, we've got to trade balance numbers from Japan, unemployment data from Australia, house price numbers from China, and of course that ECB interest rate decision from the eurozone.