The Business News Week Ahead

A week that opens with a Memorial Day holiday in the US on Monday and that gets rolling on Tuesday with the first look at first-quarter GDP in Switzerland where moderate growth is the expectation. Tuesday's focus then turns to sentiment: Germany's GfK consumer climate index followed by EC economic sentiment and US consumer confidence all in a row. None are expected to show any psychological damage yet from US-Chinese tensions. Wednesday's highlight will come from the Bank of Canada which will issue a policy announcement where no change, in light of global risks, is the strong consensus. Germany's unemployment rate will also be posted on Wednesday while Japan's unemployment rate, which jumped in the last report, will be posted on Thursday. And Thursday will also see monthly Japanese industrial production and retail sales data preceded by advance data on the US goods deficit, all these reports for April. Friday will open with German retail sales where bounce-back strength is the call followed by monthly GDP data out of Canada and April consumer income and spending data out of the US in a report that will update the Federal Reserve's key inflation gauge: the core PCE rate where no change at a subdued 1.6 percent is expected. The week will also see revisions to a host of first-quarter GDP data including from France, Italy and the US.