MNI Global Week Ahead February 22 – 26

Key Things to Watch For:

• Monday, February 22 – Germany Ifo Climate Index
  • Germany's Ifo business climate indicator declined in January to 90.1, to the lowest level since July. Both expectations and the current conditions index fell in January, signaling that the second wave of Covid-19 led a halt of recovery.
  • In February, markets are looking for a small uptick of business climate to 90.4. The current conditions index eased to 89.0 in January and markets expect the indicator to fall further to 88.9 in February.
  • Expectations are projected to rise to 91.6 in February after slipping to 91.1 in the previous month. Similar survey evidence is in line with market forecasts. The ZEW current conditions index deteriorated slightly, while expectations rose sharply.

• Thursday, February 25 – U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims
  • Initial unemployment insurance claims filed through February 20 should fall to 750,000, according to Bloomberg, an improvement over the previous week's 861,000 that was the highest level in a month.

• Thursday, February 25 – U.S. Durable Goods Orders
  • New orders of U.S. durable goods are expected to have surged in January, with Bloomberg expecting an increase of 1.2%. Excluding transportation, new orders are forecast to be up 0.7%.
• The goods-producing sector has been a bright spot through the Covid pandemic, and orders of durable goods should see continued strength in the coming months.