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Monday December 11th
Indicators: Irish construction PMI (Nov); US consumer inflation expectations (Nov).
Meetings: Trinity and Huawei sign research collaboration accord (Trinity College Dublin).
Huawei, the global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, will announce a research collaboration initiative with Trinity College Dublin on Monday at an event in Regent House on the university campus.
Details of what this partnership will involve are under wraps until the announcement, but the event will also mark the return of 10 Irish Stem undergraduate students from Huawei’s “Seeds for the Future” programme.
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This involves students participating in a four-week programme of cultural, business and technical training in China.
The company has a well-established footprint in Ireland, dating back 13 years, and with 163 skilled employees across Athlone, Cork and Dublin. R&D is a core part of the company's global operations and an integral part of its activities here. The company had a global turnover of $75.1 billion in 2016.
Monday's announcement will feature Dr Patrick Prendergast, provost of Trinity College Dublin, Martin Shanahan, chief executive of IDA Ireland, and Guo Ping, Huawei deputy chairman and rotating chief executive, who is visiting Ireland.
Tuesday December 12th
Results: Carpetright.
Indicators: Irish residential property prices (Oct); Euro zone economic sentiment index (Nov); UK Inflation (Nov), retail price index (Nov), PPI input and output (Nov); German economic sentiment index (Nov); US PPI (Nov).
Wednesday December 13th
Indicators: Euro zone employment changes (Q3), industrial production (Oct); UK unemployment (Oct), average earnings (Oct); German inflation (Nov); US inflation (Nov), Fed interest rate decision.
Meetings: Digital Dún Laoghaire Recruiting & Retaining Top Talent event (PierConnect, Upper George's Street, Dún Laoghaire); Enterprise Ireland workshop: Sales Pipeline Management Exportise (Enterprise Ireland, East Point Business Park, Dublin 3); Ireland-US Council holiday season member-guest reception (Intercontinental Hotel).
A US interest rate hike of 0.25 per cent is looking increasingly likely in a week when central banks in three major economies meet to announce their policies.
The Federal Reserve will confirm its move on Wednesday, while announcements will emerge from Britain and the euro zone the following day.
“Putting the three central banks together, the Fed is definitely on a tightening course; the ECB is still on an easing course, although not to the same extent; and the Bank of England is probably the most uncertain as a result of the uncertainty of Brexit,” explains Dermot O’Leary, chief economist at Goodbody.
US economists are predicting about three more rises next year. Wednesday’s move will see the current range lifted to between 1.25 and 1.5 per cent and is indicative of increasing confidence in the country’s economic growth.
“The most important thing, and something that is being discussed by a lot of Fed board members over recent months, is that we are very close to what is called full employment at the moment,” says O’Leary. That rate is estimated at 4.25 per cent, and the Fed move is an effort to head off inflationary pressures.
“I would argue that they are probably behind the curve. Rates at this level are still very low in an historical context.”
The incoming Fed chair Jerome Powell is seen as a policy continuation of Janet Yellen.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England, which raised its rate last month, is expected to remain where it is and, indeed, according to O’Leary, pursue “very, very gradual” hikes in the future.
Thursday December 14th
Results: Adobe Systems, Costco Wholesale.
Indicators: Irish inflation (Nov); Euro zone services, composite and manufacturing PMI flash (Dec), interest rate decision; UK retail sales (Nov), Bank of England interest rate decision; German services, composite and manufacturing PMI flash (Dec); US retails sales (Nov), export and import prices (Nov), services, composite and manufacturing PMI flash (Dec).
Meetings: ECB interest rate announcement; Business & Finance Irish Business Awards (Convention Centre, Dublin).
Friday December 15
Indicators: Irish GDP (Q3), balance of trade (Oct); Euro zone balance of trade (Oct); German wholesale prices (Nov); US industrial production (Nov).