Markets in the week ahead: Eurozone GDP, US retail sales and Fed minutes in focus

As morning European trading opened on Monday, the dollar edged higher but remained near a one-week low as the Federal Reserve could be forced to delay the tapering of its bond-buying program due to an increase in Covid-19 cases and slumping U.S. consumer confidence.

China's preliminary data was released earlier, showing industrial production rose 6.4% year-over-year in July, while retail sales grew 8.5%, both lower than expected, which is likely to impact the European markets on Monday negatively.

As markets look towards the week ahead, the latest retail sales data and Federal Reserve minutes will be closely watched, while retail earnings will also spotlight consumer strength.

Part of China's economic data will shed light on the economy's health as the delta variant of the Coronavirus spreads throughout the country. New Zealand looks to be one of the first advanced economies to hike interest rates in the pandemic era.

Few data releases are due for the euro area this week, mostly the employment change and GDP. As the vaccination rollout continues to progress, the recent data shows that confidence has grown in the region. Even so, last week's ZEW survey shows businesses are still quite cautious about the economy's recovery.

Data from the labour market, earnings, inflation, and retail sales will move the British pound this week. BoE announced plans to tighten in the coming years, but it seems the economy is far from reaching that stage yet, despite recent improvements. That is the reason that BoE is going to continue expanding bond purchases under its QE program till the end of the year.