US growth figures on Thursday will provide the latest clue to investors eager for signals on when the Federal Reserve will begin to lower interest rates from their current 23-year high.
Economists polled by Reuters are expecting GDP to have grown at an annualised rate of 1.8 per cent in the second quarter. While that would be a slight pick-up on the first quarter rate of 1.4 per cent, the big picture for the world’s largest economy remains a slowdown from the rapid growth seen at the end of last year.
“We’re expecting . . . a bit of a slowdown in consumer spending, plus a little bit more momentum in terms of business investment,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY Parthenon. “It’s a fairly mixed picture, but one that shows a deceleration overall in the economy on a year-over-year basis.”