1. UK Nationwide Consumer Confidence 
2. Reserve Rank of Australia Rate Decision
3. UK BRC Shop Price Index
4. US ISM Non-Manufacturing

UK Nationwide Consumer Confidence (APR) (23:01 GMT; 19:01 EST)
Consensus:  96
Previous:  95

Outlook: UK consumer sentiment is expected to have risen a second consecutive month in April as views on global economy strengthen.  Expectations for a rise in the confidence gauge seems to be well founded given the rise in the earlier release GfK/NOP survey of the same topic.  However, significant issues exist that could weigh on the broader-based read.  Labor markets have not provided reason to cheer with the most recent data through February revealing a significant change in hiring trends for the worse over six months.  Another hot/cold issue for citizens was the housing market.  With confidence closely tied to home equity, fluctuations in residential values likely swayed optimism.  The RICS survey of those surveyors observing higher prices minus those noticing lower ones dropped in its most recent release in March, while the UK Rightmove index revealed 1.1% higher prices for April.  The market will closely monitor the read for consumer confidence as it will give a clue as to consumer spending trends to come, which currently makes up for nearly two-thirds of the economy.

Previous: Confidence in Europe's second largest economy rose slightly in March, by 1 point to a read of 95 according to Nationwide's measure, as expectations for the economy begin to stabilize.  This normalization in sentiment in the face of improving indicators across other sections of the economy suggests consumers were being cautious in the face of the stronger figures.   Two sub components of the overall read that were concerning were expectations of household income and housing prices.  Those citizens that were expecting their earnings to fall over the coming six months rose to an all-time high 11%.  Elsewhere, in spite of the improving trend in the housing market during the time, consumers revised their forecasts of housing price growth in the coming six months down to 2.2%.  Aside from these two components, the remaining indices were either even or rose, however the overall figure held below the less volatile three-month average.

Reserve Bank of Australia Rate Decision (23:30 GMT; 19:30 EST)
Consensus:  5.50%
Previous:  5.50%

Outlook:   Indicators released since the Reserve Bank of Australia's last meeting in April 4th, seem to make RBA Governor Ian McFarlane's statement that the next shift in rates would be up rather than down more relevant.  One area of immediate relevance to monetary policy makers were consumer inflation figures.  The government reported the price level for consumer goods rose 3.0% in the first quarter from the same three months a year ago.   This is a crucial statistic for the central bank as it presently lies at the upper boundary of their tolerance band.  Further enhancing the price growth argument was the TD Securities Ltd. and Melbourne Institute measure of consumer inflation over April.  According to their index, prices accelerated 2.8% on an annual basis from 2.6% the month before.  This wasn't the only set of data suggesting a rate hike could be at hand this year.  Broad improvements in different sectors of the economy have also stoked speculation.  In the consumer arena, unemployment fell to a 29-year low 5.0% in March while new home sales jumped 5.2%.  Both of these indicators are strong advocates for consumer spending to rebound from recent lulls.  Continued appreciation in the prices of commodity prices, which has been detrimental to many other industrialized countries, were particularly helpful to the Australian economy.   In fact, Australia's export price index surged 5.1% in the first three months of the year, soundly outpacing the 1.8% rise its import counterpart.  Furthermore, strength in the business sector was likely a result of the improvement in exports.  Business confidence rose to a 29-year high in March.  If policy makers take all of these indicators together, there exists a strong call for tightening rate policy in the near future.

UK BRC Shop Price Index (APR) (09:30 GMT; 05:30 EST)
                   (MoM)  (YoY)
Consensus:     n/a      n/a
Previous:     -0.4%     -1.17%

Outlook: Although no official estimates have been made regarding the British Retail Consortium's shop price index for April, the gauge for the U.K.'s high street prices is likely to reveal continued deflation given the indicator's trend in recent months.  Smaller-than-expected gains in related indices, such as the core consumer price index and the retail price index also support the case for continued deflation in the shop price index.  The shop price index, which exclusively measures prices at high street retailers, will not take into consideration expensive gas, electricity, petrol, mortgage, and leisure activity prices.  As such, the indicator will focus on the basest measure of inflation in the U.K. economy.  Even if the indicator points to deflation at particular retail locations, the Bank of England is more likely to focus on the trend in overall consumer prices when deciding on interest rate policy.  At the moment, the nation's surge in the housing and manufacturing sectors will probably carry more weight in the country's policy-setting scheme than a revelation of deflation in the shop price index. 

Previous: March's BRC shop price index fell by 1.17% from the previous year, marking a faster rate of decline in the price of retail goods in comparison to the previous month's decline of 0.67%.  March's decrease was the greatest annual deflation rate since January 2005.  From month-to-month, prices fell by 0.4%, with non-food items declining 0.29% and food prices dropping for the first time in 2006 by 0.49%.  For the last three months, prices have deflated month-to-month, while deflation on an annual basis has persisted for the past six months.  Kevin Hawkins, the director general of the consortium made it clear that the current rate of deflation in the face of less-than-stellar consumption activity and increasing retailing costs warranted a rate cut from the Bank of England.  A late Easter this year had considerable effect on the shop price index for March as retailers were forced to prolong price-cutting until the holiday, which usually brings greater spending enthusiasm.

US ISM Non-Manufacturing (APR) (14:00 GMT; 10:00 EST)
Consensus:  59.4
Previous:  60.5

Outlook: Services in the world's largest economy are predicted to have slowed last month as rising material prices edged out confidence that was offered from generally more optimistic consumers.  The market consensus for Aprils non-manufacturing figure averaged out at 59.4.  A reading above 50 indicates growth.  In the previous month's read, prices paid produced a sizable drop.  However, April's figure will feel the impact of record priced crude oil, gasoline and other necessary goods' prices.  This will be particularly pertinent for industries like the transportation sector who are dependant on such costs for profit margins.  Another area of concern lies with expectations for employment.  While the jobless rate moved to a four and a half year low 4.7% in March, recent trends in jobless claims have dimmed prospects for April and beyond.   The Federal Reserve has stated for the past two quarters that consumer spending will continue to wane while firm investment moves in to replace it.  While recent indicators have shown that manufacturing companies will contribute to this GDP forecast, service-based companies have yet to indicate solid support.

Previous:  Spurning the slowdown in its sister-manufacturing sector, the service area grew four-tenths of a percentage point faster, to 60.5, in March than it did the month prior.  While the headline figure made its way higher, component sub-indices were inconsistent considering their directions.  Positive shifts were seen in both new orders and the supplier delivery index.  Both of these indicators suggest that overall growth in the service industry, which accounts for 90% of the US economy, is progressing at a steady pace.   Also producing a respectable change was the drop in prices paid read from 64.8 to 60.5.  On the other side of the spectrum, the backlog, employment and real estate measures all fell.  Order backlogs fell to its lowest level in over a year while expectations for employment across the industry dropped from a very strong 58.2 in February to 54.6.  With speculation over the Fed's interest rate stopping point capturing the market, this indicator served as another reason to expand hawkish policy forecasts than they would be otherwise.

Richard Lee is a Currency Strategist at FXCM.