SHANGHAI, Apr. 29 (SMM) – Bases metals will maintain diverging trend on Friday with a big bag of economic figures coming under spotlight, including annualized Q1 GDP from euro zone and France, US annualized March price index for PCE, University of Michigan’s CCI and speeches of US Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman Kaplan.

Q1 GDP from euro zone may miss forecast as inflation in euro zone remains soft and manufacturing industry underperformed Q4 last year.

US Q1 annualized price index for PCE beat forecast but the annualized price index for PCE in March will likely fall short of forecast, which can be reflected by US March weaker-than-expected annualized CPI and unexpected drop in annualized PPI.  

US March retail sales posted declines unexpectedly, boosting worries that US March consumption expenditure may underperform anticipation. However, US March individual income may not pick up markedly from February given limited growth in US March wages.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Kaplan, who holds dovish attitudes, believe that economic figures give no support to rate hike at present. Should the Chairman deliver such speeches again later, US dollar index will be depressed. 

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