Economic data will drive sharemarket

Economic data is the focus for the sharemarket this week.

Today Statistics NZ announces overseas trade figures for March, and is expected to confirm a $4.3 billion trade deficit.

The NZX looks likely to be spared more fallout today from a skittery US sharemarket after a positive United States jobs report for last month.

Non-farm payrolls data, released overnight on Friday, is one measure of the strength of the US household sector and the US economic recovery. It showed US employers added 274,000 jobs in April, against market expectations of 170,000 new jobs.

Back home, the Warehouse group today posts its third-quarter sales result. Out on Thursday will be household labour force survey results, showing the March quarter jobless rate. Bernard Doyle of Goldman Sachs JBWere expected this to be 3.5 per cent, marginally down on the last quarter's 3.6 per cent. On Friday, retail sales figures for the March quarter are expected to show about 6 per cent growth.

Also out on Friday will be the US trade balance for March, which will influence the US dollar, and in turn the Kiwi dollar.