The Business News Week Ahead

 A very heavy week of key data will open with Japan's fourth-quarter Tankan survey amid expectations for improvement from what were very weak showings in the third quarter. The week's most market-moving risks are on Wednesday with December's run of flash PMIs followed later on Wednesday and then on Thursday by no less than four major central bank announcements; yet even ahead of all this there will be a heavy run of news starting on Tuesday with November updates from China on industrial production and retail sales, both of which are expected to show strength. Industrial production from the US, which has not been nearly as strong as China, is also a Tuesday highlight followed on Wednesday by US retail sales for November and what will offer a definitive verdict on the success or failure of Black Friday. But it will be Japanese trade that opens Wednesday which will be followed by the great run of PMIs, starting with Japan followed by France, Germany and the UK. Expectations for these reports are widely mixed, reflecting the differing Covid effects on manufacturing and services. The US Federal Reserve will issue its policy announcement on Wednesday afternoon and there are no expectations of any changes, in line with expectations for Thursday announcements from the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank. And though the consensus forecasts for Bank of England policy also see no change, the UK is facing the unique strain of Brexit risks. The week winds down on Friday with Japanese consumer prices, where greater disappointment is the theme, followed by Germany's Ifo survey which, in the prior two reports, faded significantly.