1. Greek drama at the G7 summit
Patience is running thin over Greece. European Union officials delivered a blistering attack on the Greek government at the Group of 7 summit meeting in the Bavarian Alps. In the beautiful Alpine resort of Schloss Elmau, the biggest drama was provided by a verbal attack on the Greek prime minister by the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, who accused Alexis Tsipras of undermining negotiations over new terms for a bailout and of effectively lying to the Greek parliament.
Athens has been trying to secure an agreement from Europe and the International Monetary Fund for months for access to more than 7 billion euros in bailout funds. Greece's creditors have put strict conditions on any deal, which the Greek government has so far refused to accept. But with Greece running out of money and needing to secure funds by the end of June if it to avoid defaulting on its debts, tensions are high.
Will any breakthrough come before the summit ends today?
2. Will Japan GDP be revised up?
On Monday, first quarter GDP numbers out of Japan are expected to be revised up from initial projections, helped by a pickup in capital spending. Initial estimates last month showed the world's third-largest economy expanded by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year, crawling back from a brief recession. A survey of economists by the leading Nikkei business daily predicted growth would be revised upward to 0.7 per cent.
3. Retail sales indicator for the US
The world's biggest economy contracted in the first three months of the year as it collapsed under the weight of unusually heavy snowfalls but numbers last Friday showed job growth accelerated sharply in May and wages picked up. Those signs of momentum in the economy have put a September interest rate hike from the Fed back on the table.
For this week, economists expect retail sales data due Thursday to show a strong pick up in May with a surge in auto sales as American consumers have not turned their energy and food savings into spending. The market could punish failure to outperform expectations with a US dollar selloff and there will be renewed questions around the Fed's plans to raise rates.
4. China slowing
China will unveil industrial output and retail sales data on Thursday that will probably show the world's second-largest economy is still slowing. Gloomy business surveys out have already fuelled anticipation Beijing will have to roll out more aggressive policy measures and any further signs of a slowdown will add to those expectations.
5. Central banks on hold
The central banks of Chile, New Zealand, Peru, South Korea and Thailand are all meeting this week but Reuters polls suggest there won't be any action as they wait to see just when the US central bank finally pulls the trigger and raises interest rates.
