MNI Global Morning Briefing

     LONDON (MNI) - Thursday starts with the release of data on German retail

sales at 0700BST. Moreover, final manufacturing PMIs are published for Spain,

Italy, France, Germany and the Eurozone at 0815, 0845, 0850, 0855 and 0900BST,

respectively. The BOE announces their latest interest rate decision and

publishes the May inflation report at 1200BST. In the US, the release of nonfarm

productivity for Q1 at 1330BST is worth noting.

     Monthly German retail sales are expected to decline by 0.6% in March after

an increase of 0.9% in February. Retail sales increased 4.7% on the year in

February.

     Spain's manufacturing PMI for April is expected to increase to 51.1 after a

reading of 50.9. April's reading for Italy's PMI is expected to remain on

March's level of 47.4 in April. The PMI's for France, Germany and the Eurozone

are expected to register at their respective flash estimates of 49.6, 44.5,

47.8. Manufacturing PMI's all remain below the 50-neutral level except for

Spain.

     The interest rate as well as the BoE Asset purchase amount are expected to

remain unchanged at 0.75% and Stg435bn.

     Nonfarm productivity in the U.S. is expected to rise by 1.0% in the first

quarter after a 1.9% gain in the previous quarter, though a solid gain in output

component is an upside risk. Unit labor costs are expected to rise by 2.2% in

first quarter, moderately the 2.0% gain reported for the fourth quarter.

     Thursday remains quiet in terms of policy speeches, with the highlights

ECB's Nowotny and Praet speaking at an OeNB Economics Conference in Vienna.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com