Financial markets' participants will be on a date with a number of important economic data this week, led by the growth data in China, in addition to retail sales and unemployment benefits data in the United States.

The Chinese government will release important data, including industrial production and retail sales, but the most prominent is the GDP report for the first quarter of 2020, where expectations indicate a contraction of 6 percent on an annual basis, compared to 6 percent growth in the last quarter of 2019.

The expected significant contraction would largely reflect the negative impact of the outbreak of the Corona virus in China and the subsequent precautionary measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

US Dollar

The movements of the US dollar this week will depend on the impact of economic data from the world’s largest economy, as well as any developments related to the spread of the Corona virus in the United States.

For economic reports, investors will carefully watch the retail sales data for March, in addition to the weekly report on unemployment benefits, which showed a significant deterioration in the labor market as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19.

Expectations for retail sales, which largely reflect the size of household spending on goods and services, indicate a 7.0 percent decrease in March after a 0.5 percent decline in February.

As for the initial jobless claims, expectations are for 5.7 million in the week ended April 11, after 6.6 million registered a week before.

Also, some data on the housing and manufacturing sectors, as well as consumer confidence, may receive some attention from investors.

Euro

The euro will most likely move according to the general trend in financial markets due to the absence of high-relevance economic data from the Eurozone.

But the most important report will be the final consumer price index for the month of March in the euro area, where it is expected to confirm a 0.7 percent increase on an annual basis after recording a rise of 1.2 percent in February.

Pound Sterling

As for the British pound, it is also predicted to move according to the general trend in the markets amid the lack of highly important economic data this week from the British economy.

Therefore, traders should monitor the latest developments related to the spread of the Corona virus in Britain and follow any comments from BOE monetary policy members.

Commodities

Gold prices rose at the end of last week to the highest level in a month as a result of the dollar's decline after the US Federal Reserve rolled out a massive stimulus plan.

This week, gold prices will depend on the important economic data published by the major economies, especially the US and China’s GDP data.

With regard to oil, prices witnessed some decline after Mexico postponed the agreement reached by OPEC + to reduce oil production by 10 million barrels per day, which was agreed upon at the end of last week.

Oil price movements will hinge on the state of optimism or pessimism in markets in the event of any developments regarding the virus, as well as the possibility of activating the new OPEC+ agreement to reduce crude production.