Good morning and welcome to Money Minute, your comprehensive preview of this week’s biggest financial stories.
The ongoing spread of the coronavirus and the resultant slide in markets will overshadow the majority of this week’s economic data releases, much of which will date back to before the virus disruption kicked in.
However, there are some key events that will give investors some insight into how the authorities are reacting to the panic.
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The Reserve Bank of Australia makes its latest decision on interest rates on Tuesday. The central bank is seen as unlikely to cut the key Australian interest rate from its current all-time low of 0.75%. That’s because Australian economic data has been neither amazing – nor terrible – in recent months.
However, given the Australian economy’s dependence on China, it’s hard to believe that the coronavirus won’t hurt its economic growth. As a result, a cut at some point in the near future seems likely, and it might be signalled at the latest meeting.
Later the same day we get a raft of news from the eurozone, including employment data and inflation figures, plus the latest update on GDP growth for last year. The data will mainly be useful for gauging how vulnerable the eurozone is to any pending coronavirus-related slowdown.
In the US on Friday, we get the latest nonfarm payrolls data. This will give us an idea of how many jobs the US economy added in the past month. Markets typically pay a great deal of attention to these figures, because of the implications for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy. However, with the coronavirus occupying much more of everyone’s attention, the jobs data may be deemed less important than usual.
Finally, we also get UK house price data from the Halifax. No doubt there will still be evidence of a Boris Bounce lifting prices. The question is whether we’ll see an offsetting Corona Crunch later in the year.
Have a good week!
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HMRC slaps pensioners with record high surprise tax bills - do you owe the taxman money?More than a million people face surprise tax bills by HMRC, including thousands of pensioners, as triple lock pushes more retirees into taxable income brackets
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Chase to launch its first ever credit card next monthChase bank has been piloting its first-ever credit card to select employees and customers since November, but will roll it out to all customers from June, MoneyWeek can reveal. While the bank has become popular for current and savings accounts, will its credit offering be just as favoured?
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Trapped in a time of zombie governmentIt’s not just companies that are eking out an existence, says Max King. The state is in the twilight zone too.
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America is in deep denial over debtThe downgrade in America’s credit rating was much criticised by the US government, says Alex Rankine. But was it a long time coming?
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Bank of England raises interest rates to 5.25%The Bank has hiked rates from 5% to 5.25%, marking the 14th increase in a row. We explain what it means for savers and homeowners - and whether more rate rises are on the horizon
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UK inflation remains at 8.7% ‒ what it means for your moneyInflation was unmoved at 8.7% in the 12 months to May. What does this ‘sticky’ rate of inflation mean for your money?
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VICE bankruptcy: how did it happen?Was the VICE bankruptcy inevitable? We look into how the once multibillion-dollar came crashing down.
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Would a food price cap actually work?Analysis The government is discussing plans to cap the prices of essentials. But could this intervention do more harm than good?
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UK inflation slides to 8.7% - what does it mean for your money?News Inflation has dropped below 10% for the first time in months, but with food prices at a 45-year high, is this good news and what does it mean for your money?
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Why the UK equity market is shrinkingAnalysis The crisis has been building for 25 years, says Max King, and it will take decades to reverse the trend.
