MNI Global Morning Briefing

     LONDON (MNI) - After a few sluggish days on the calendar, Tuesday looks to

pick up the pace.

     Starting at 0645GMT, French February industrial production is set for

publication. After a prior m/m growth of -2%, MNI forecasts suggest analysts

expect a rebound with m/m growth for February at 1.5%. This is likely to

positively impact y/y industrial production for February from a prior y/y figure

of 1.2%. 

     Next up is Italy with their February industrial production data, due at

0800GMT. Similar to France, January's m/m figure was fairly sluggish with a

contraction of 1.9% however a much stronger y/y wda figure of 7.3%. 

     Sandwiched in between this data at 0730GMT, ECB Supervisory Board chair

Daniele Nouy speaks at an international conference on risk appetite framework in

banks organised by Banka Slovenije, in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

     Concluding in the Eurozone is the OECD Leading Indicator at 1000GMT with a

prior figure of 100.2. 

     Also at 1000GMT in the US is the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index with a

prior index figure of 100.7.

     Housing Starts for March in Canada will be released by the Canadian

Mortgage and Housing Corporation at 1215GMT. Previously, the 229,700 rise in

February had beaten market expectations of 217. This is followed up with

February Building Permits data at 1230GMT after 5.6% growth in January. 

     Moving to the US, Produce Price index (1230GMT), is expected to increase

0.1% in March after a 0.2% gain in February. Energy prices are expected to exert

a small contribution after a dip in February, while food prices are expected to

drag again after a 0.4% decline. Excluding food and energy prices, PPI is

forecast to rise 0.2% again after an as-expected 0.2% increase in the previous

month.

     The April Redbook Retail Sales at 1255GMT should see a rebound after

sluggish previous m/m growth of 0.4%. 

     The US follow this up with their April wholesale trade figures at 1400GMT.

March wholesale inventories grew at 0.8% compared to sales which declined 1.1%. 

     The Corporate Goods Price Index in Japan (1150GMT) for March is expected to

see a drop in both the CGPI y/y and the Corp goods price index m/m. The CGPI y/y

is expected to drop 5bp from 2.5% to 2.0% whereas the Corp goods price index m/m

is expected to fall slightly to -0.1% from 0%. At the same time in Japan,

February's machinery orders is expected to decline 2.5% on a m/m basis after a

rise of 8.2% m/m in January. 

     The Westpac-MI consumer sentiment index in Australia is released at 0030GMT

with a prior of 103. 

     Currently in the limelight relating to the tit-for-tat tariff swap with the

US, at 0100GMT, President Xi will speak at the Boao Forum. This is followed by

the CPI and PPI figures at 0130GMT for March with prior y/y figures of 2.9% and

3.7% respectively. It may also be possible to see at some point in the day

China's April data for Money Supply, New Loans and Total Social Financing

figures. The M2 ytd y/y previously was at 8.8%, new loans stood at CNY839.3

billion and total social financing was at CNY1.17 trillion. 

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