Morning Juice – Europe Session Prep

Good Morning Traders.
It is Friday the 22nd of May. Here is what to look out for today.

Sentiment
Japan’s key inflation gauge rose at the slowest pace in four years as the government continued to help ease the cost of living, creating difficult optics for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates soon. Oil rose after three days of declines, as statements by Iran on uranium and the Strait of Hormuz pared earlier optimism over progress in the negotiations with the US. Iran said the latest proposal from the US partly bridged the gap between the warring sides, but comments from the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader about keeping Tehran’s uranium stockpile and a dispute over tolls in the Strait of Hormuz clouded the outlook for a breakthrough. Iran is discussing with Oman how to set up some form of a permanent toll system that will formalize its control of maritime traffic through the vital waterway. Yen traders are on alert for the risk of intervention on Monday as holidays from London to New York reduce market liquidity.

Docket
02:00 ET
UK Retail Sales
YoY – Forecast: 1.3% | Prior: 1.7% | Range: 2% / -0.2%
MoM – Forecast: -0.6% | Prior: 0.7% | Range: 0.5% / -2%
Core MoM – Forecast: -0.3% | Prior: 0.2% | Range: 0.4% / -0.6%

German GDP
QoQ – Forecast: 0.3% | Prior: 0.3% | Range: 0.3% / 0.2%
YoY SA – Forecast: 0.3% | Prior: 0.3% | Range: 0.3% / 0.3%
YoY NSA – Forecast: 0.5% | Prior: 0.5% | Range: 0.5% / 0.3%

04:00 ET
German IFO’s
Expectations – Forecast: 83.5 | Prior: 83.3 | Range: 85.5 / 82
Business Climate – Forecast: 84.2 | Prior: 84.4 | Range: 85.9 / 82
Current Conditions – Forecast: 85.1 | Prior: 85.4 | Range: 86.2 / 84.5