Key event risks for Europe and US - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac offered today's event risks as follows:

Euro Area: Q1 GDP (advance) is out after a 0.4% reading in Q4. Growth has picked up over recent quarters, driven by robust domestic demand, which has broadened across industries and countries. Q1 partials indicate continuing growth and early national GDP estimates have printed 0.3% for France and 0.8% for Spain.

US: The FOMC policy decision is expected to be on hold. March’s hike was well telegraphed with the Fed confident that full employment is attained; job and income growth is continuing; and inflation is near enough to target. As such, we expect a follow up move in June, with this meeting’s focus on further guidance on balance sheet normalisation timing. We also get pre payrolls ADP employment as well as Apr ISM non-manufacturing."