The Business News Week Ahead

A week dominated by central bank announcements opens Monday with key data out of China, led by industrial production which will cover the virus-torn months of January and February. The virus' widening outbreak is expected to pull down German business sentiment very sharply as measured by ZEW's latest survey on Tuesday, though not US retail sales for the month of February when the virus was yet to be a critical issue in America. February's retail sales report will, nevertheless, offer a baseline to measure the forthcoming effects of the virus, as will Canadian manufacturing sales for January and US industrial production for February, both to be released on Wednesday. Whether the virus may slow the new home market is a special question for the US where housing starts on Wednesday will update what has arguably been the strongest sector of any kind in the global economy. Japanese consumer prices, where improvement has been minimal, will be posted on Thursday and will precede the Bank of Japan's policy announcement on Wednesday, one that will follow an emergency bond buying plan announced earlier in the month. The Federal Reserve, which cut rates by 50 basis points at its own emergency meeting on March 3, is expected to extend its efforts with another 50 point cut on Wednesday. The Swiss National Bank follows on Thursday for a bank that is not only struggling with virus effects but the burden of a sharply appreciating currency that looks to limit the nation's exports.