Global Week Ahead: Continued focus on policymakers

Also in the coming week focus is likely to be on the US fiscal cliff debate and Greece. Revised US Q3 GDP is the most important data release. Overall we expect no major data surprises compared to consensus estimates.

US: Next week’s key event is the political debate on the fiscal cliff, which after a slow start is likely to gain more traction on Capitol Hill. However, an agreement on how to avoid the cliff should not be expected any time soon. On the data front, the week will be rather busy, with the main focus on revised Q3 GDP.

Euro area: The early part of next week is likely to be dominated by Greece. We expect a deal at some point but are done expecting anything at specific dates. Moreover, a big win for the nationalists at Sunday’s local elections in Catalonia might weigh on confidence towards Spain next week.

In Scandinavia, next week’s most important Swedish data are consumer and business surveys from NIER and the release of Q3 GDP. In Norway the key data release in October retail sales , while Norges Bank will publish its report on Financial Stability.