In the United States, May’s retail sales are the main figures to watch and markets will also have speeches from no fewer than six Fed officials.
Expectations are for retail sales to have ticked slightly higher on a monthly basis in May after April’s downside surprise, though the overall picture is still expected to point to slowing momentum in consumer spending.
As for Fed speak, policymakers are likely to sing from the same hymn sheet as Chair Jerome Powell last week, with last week’s benign inflation report possibly giving some leeway to sound a little more dovish.
While the rest of the world looks to loosen monetary policy, in Japan, central bank governor Kazuo Ueda said interest rates could be raised next month depending on economic data, underscoring his resolve to further unwind massive stimulus.
That would typically be welcome news for the yen, but the Japanese currency barely reacted and struggled on the weaker side of 157 per dollar on Tuesday.
Perhaps investors have learnt their lesson not to keep their hopes too high when it comes to the Bank of Japan, especially after last week’s policy decision, which was a damp squib for those betting on an immediate reduction in bond purchases.
