This week does not hold a large amount of market moving data, but retail trade sales will be keenly watched.
March retail trade sales will be released on Wednesday. Growth in SA's retail trade sales at constant (2008) prices for March is expected to increase by 6.8% year on year (y/y), from a y/y growth of 7.2% in February, according to a survey of leading economists by I-Net Bridge.
Forecasts among the ten economists ranged from 4.30% to 7.93%.
Kevin Lings, economist with Stanlib, said the 1.0% and 2.2% month-on-month (m/m) decline in retail sales in January and February respectively painted a much better picture of the underlying trend in the sector.
The month on month declines painted an overall trend which suggested that consumers were under pressure on the back of "all the different rising costs in the last while", Lings said.
Thabi Leoka, research strategist with Standard Bank Research said they expected retail sales to come under strain in the months ahead due to risks to the inflation outlook, higher fuel prices, lower government wages, and additional costs when Gauteng e-tolling came into effect.
Stats SA will release the wholesale trade sales for March, March building statistics, as well as civil cases for debt on Thursday.
Manqoba Madinane, economist at Econometrix, said that the slowdown in European economic growth, coupled with industrial production cutbacks in China and India augurs negatively for export growth, which had adverse implications, especially for businesses in the manufacturing sector.
"As such, one should expect the increases in civil cases for debt for businesses to continue exerting upward pressure on the negative growth trend in overall civil cases for debt in the months ahead," he said.
