Inflation the highlight
There will be a lot of excitement about inflation readings over the week ahead.
As recently as October (!) there were ongoing calls to lower Australia's inflation target to 1 to 3 per cent, as policymakers have continually under shot the 2 to 3 per cent target range since 2014.
Core inflation is expected to come in at around 1 per cent for the March quarter, which could take the year-on-year reading to around 3.2 per cent, or possibly even a notch higher.
The energy sector has been a very happy hunting ground for value investors since early 2020, but the sliding oil price at today's levels is now disinflationary (i.e. slowing the pace of price inflation).
Now, sure, if the oil price was to rally towards $150, then that could contribute to a renewed inflationary pulse.
The iron ore price is also now crapping the bed, down 10 per cent today - while coal is down 5 per cent - with a huge portion of the Chinese population trapped in lockdown.
Australia's wage price index rose by only 2.3 per cent in 2021 - and the next wages release isn't until May 18 - perhaps accounting for most analysts believing that the Reserve Bank will sit pat until June, before deciding whether to deliver an interest rate hike.
