A quiet week ahead. There’s a public holiday in America, so markets will tread water for most of today.
Economic data is sparse. There are some central banks meeting, the most important being the Bank of England, with an expected rate rise.
But central banks in Chile, Brazil and Mexico are expected to follow the US Federal Reserve in pausing this week, as will their counterparts in Indonesia and the Philippines.
In Australia, there’s very little expected as we move into the "quiet" period ahead of the end of the financial year (and first half and second quarter) on June 30.
Watch for a few trading updates and don’t expect them to be as upbeat as AGL’s get out of the doghouse upgrade we saw on Friday.
Investors and economists will be looking to the release of the minutes of the Reserve Bank’s June policy meeting, while Deputy Governor Michelle Bullock has a speech in Newcastle. Assistant governor Christopher Kent will appear on a derivatives forum as well.
The US economic and business calendars take a breather this week, but the focus will be on the housing market with incoming data on new residential construction and existing-home sales for May.
Jobless claims will remain in focus as they provide labour market insight with the shortest lag time.
Initial claims were stuck above 260,000 for the second straight week last week, and it will be important to note any sustained increase in the level of claims, which would likely signal a deceleration in monthly job gains.
Corporate reports are few -- CarMax, Cathay Pacific, Fed Ex and Accenture stand out.
There’s dozens of annual meetings this week. Shareholders of Nvidia, the AI boom stock, meet this week, as will shareholders in Activision Blizzard (which Microsoft is trying to take over), General Motors and Dell.
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Fed chair Jay Powell appears before the US Congress on Wednesday and Thursday while several senior members of the Fed are due to make speeches in the next four days.
In Europe, the Bank of England rate decision is the big event -- a 0.25 per cent rise will take the central bank's rate to 4.75 per cent. Moody’s economists forecast the bank will make one more increase and then sit for more than a year.
UK consumer inflation and retail sales data will be issued as well.
Japan sees the release of inflation data for May with core CPI (CPI less fresh food) likely rising a high (for Japan) annual rate of 3.1 per cent, down from 3.4 per cent in April.
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The most newsworthy Australian corporate news event this week (that we know of now), is the special meeting of shareholders in St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) to consider the deal from Genesis Minerals
(ASX:GMD) to buy St Barbara’s Leonora gold mining assets in the Leonora area of WA’s eastern goldfields.
Genesis has offered more than $620m in cash and shares, including the payment early of a special $25m deposit if the deal is approved at the meeting.
Rival gold miner Silver Lake Resources
(ASX:SLR) has tried to muscle in to the deal and overbid Genesis. Silver Lake says the implied value of its proposal is $718m, comprising $370m in cash and 327.1 million Silver Lake shares valued at $348m (at May 31).
The shares are now worth $340m, so the deal has a putative value of around $710m.
The core of the Genesis offer (which was recast after St Barbara’s financial position worsened earlier this year) is $400m in cash. Silver Lake is offering around $370m.
Silver Lake has been trying to get St Barbara shareholders to oppose the deal, but St Barbara claims 49 per cent of its shareholder base supported the Genesis deal a month ago.
