Weekly Outlook 04/02/2019 to 08/02/2019

President Trump’s State of the Union address

On Wednesday, President Trump will deliver his annual speech to a joint session of the Congress. This State of the Union address is expected to include a message regarding the budget and an economic report to the nation. Considering the shutdown and all the turmoil with the Democrats, this speech may be more lenient and unifying than normal for President Trump.

Bank of England interest rate decision

Next Thursday, the Bank of England will announce its interest rate decision. The Bank will also publish its quarterly set of economic forecasts, which will be watched closely for further signs of the damage inflicted by uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Given all the instability regarding the Brexit and the failure of striking a deal with the EU, rates are likely to remain stable at 0.75%.

Additional Information

• On Thursday, the ECB will post the Economic Bulletin, which contains some key insights on its policy. It is used to replace the ECB monthly bulletin and it is published two weeks after each Governing Council meeting.

• Next Wednesday, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis and the US Census Bureau will publish the country’s trade balance figures regarding the month of November.