The first week of December will have many important economic data and events. This month, a number of important decisions will be made by major central banks around the world that will give a hint about the outlook for the next year. Here are the highlights of what will come this week:
On Monday, Euro group meetings to preparing for the euro summit this month
The Eurogroup will meet twice on Monday, the first meeting of which will be held between ministers of the euro area, and the second meeting will be between ministers of the 27 EU member states to prepare for the euro summit this month. British Prime Minister Theresa May is scheduled to meet with Jean-Claude Junker, president of the European Commission and Michel Barnier, chief European negotiator on Brexit.
Also, the ministers will elect a new president of the euro group, with the term of current President Jeroen Dijsselbloem ending in mid-January 2018.
The Australian Reserve's latest decision this year will be released Tuesday morning
The Reserve Bank of Australia is due to announce its latest interest rate decision in 2017 early on Tuesday, and it is widely expected that interest rates will remain unchanged at 1.50% for the 15th consecutive meeting and that the bank will remain neutral in light of weak inflation.
Grant Spencer, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, is also due to talk about low inflation figures and the impact on monetary policy decisions.
In the UK, the service sector index is expected to decline in November to 55 points after rising to 55.6 points in October.
Australia's growth data and the BoC's last decision in 2017 on Wednesday
Australia's growth data will be released on Wednesday, with gross domestic product expected to grow by 3% YoY in the third quarter of 2017 and 0.7% quarterly. The Australian economy grew by 0.8% in the second quarter.
The Bank of Canada is due to announce the latest monetary policy decisions in 2017. Interest rates are expected to remain unchanged at 1%. The Bank kept interest rates unchanged at the last meeting, in light of the risks and uncertainties facing the economy, after raising them twice this year.
Growth data for Japan and the euro area are released on Thursday
Japan's GDP growth is expected to grow by 0.4% in the third quarter of 2017 after posting a 0.3% growth. If the Japanese economy grows during this quarter, it becomes the seventh straight quarter of growth, the longest consecutive growth in 10 years.
The euro zone is expected to see no change in the third quarter of 2017, with gross domestic product expected to grow 2.5% on yearly basis and 0.65 quarterly.
ECB President Mario Draghi is due to hold a press conference in front of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a week before the ECB meeting.
Attention is on Friday for US employment data
Friday's US Nonfarm Employment Data is expected to add 198,000 jobs in November after adding 261K in October, unemployment at 4.1% and a 0.2% rise in annualized rate of wages. The rise in wages supports the opportunity to raise interest rates this month before the end of the year.
The tax code remains the most important event in the United States, with Congress pushing it forward to give Donald Trump his first legislative victory since entering the White House.
