Consumer confidence from Germany, US and Germany due on Monday

The timeline for data releases is determined by the author from UTC 13 onwards.

This week will be a good way to gauge consumers' confidence from several critical global economies and their general robustness by proxy.

A quick note should be made on Monday regarding the loan prime rate decision from the People's Bank of China, which should draw investors attention, besides the events detailed below. The Chinese 1 year loan prime rate is currently set at 3.7% and may still be trimmed against the trend of most major economies.

Consumer confidence reports from the US and Germany are due on Wednesday.

The CB February report from the US is expected to show that confidence in the US economy is shrinking. The Fed's ability to respond with the exact level of aggression necessary to tame inflation is likely to be the main culprit for the shrinking of confidence, and perhaps runaway inflation in the nation.

Germany's consumer confidence report is due Wednesday. The March GfK report is expected to show that Germans are growing in confidence in the economy. A rise to - 4 from 6.7 points is expected, and with it is a possible boost to the confidence of the EUR over the long term.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand's Interest Rate Decision is tucked away between Wednesday's confidence data. Much like the US Fed's interest rate decision in a couple of weeks, talk regarding the RBNZ's decision centres on whether or not we will see a 25 basis point or 50 basis points hike.

Consumer confidence in the UK for February will be gauged on Friday afternoon. Like Germany, the UK's February Gfk report will rise 3 points but remains negative as it moves from 19 to 16 points.

Like the US, inflation in the UK seems to drive the negativity in the confidence index. The index value of the UK has fallen for the past three months, so it's a bullish sign for the British economy and the GBP.