Weekly Macroeconomic Highlights: April 21—April 25

Despite a slow start to the week due to the Easter holiday, the remaining days featured several key publications, primarily from the United States and Canada. Markets focused on business activity, the housing market, and energy stockpiles in the US.

Tuesday

Canada:
● At 8:30 p.m. GMT, the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) for March was published. The index dropped by -1.0% month-over-month, worse than both the forecast (0.0%) and the previous figure (0.3%).

United States:
● The weekly crude oil stock data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a drop of -4.565 million barrels, a sharp contrast to the previous week’s 2.400 million barrel build.

Wednwsday

United States:
● At 1:45 p.m. GMT, the April Manufacturing PMI was released, rising to 50.7 above both the forecast of 49.0 and the prior reading of 50.2.
● At the same time, the Services PMI for April came in at 51.4, missing the 52.8 forecast and dropping from the previous 54.4.
● At 2:00 p.m. GMT, new home sales data for March was released. Sales rose to 724,000 units, exceeding both the 684,000 forecast and the previous 674,000.
● At 2:30 p.m. GMT, crude oil inventory data was released, showing a build of 0.244 million barrels. This was worse than the forecast for a -0.700 million barrel draw and lower than the prior 0.515 million barrel increase.

Thursday

United States:
● At 12:30 p.m. GMT, initial jobless claims data was published. The number came in at 222,000, matching the forecast and slightly higher than the previous 216,000.
● At 2:00 p.m. GMT, existing home sales data for March was released. Sales declined to 4.02 million, falling short of the 4.14 million forecast and the prior 4.27 million.

Friday

United Kingdom:
● At 06:00 GMT, the retail sales volume data for March (month-over-month) was released. The forecast had been -0.3%, down from the previous 1.0%, but the actual figure showed an increase to 0.4%.

United States:
● At 2:00 p.m. GMT, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April is scheduled for release. The forecast is 50.8, compared to the previous reading of 57.0.