The British MPC meeting minutes will be the main event for a busy day in the FX markets; with US oil inventories figures dominating the New York trading session. Here’s an outlook for the major events in today’s trading.
08:30 GMT: GBP- MPC Meeting Minutes
The last rate decision by the Monetary Policy Committee didn’t bring any news – the rate remained at 0.50%. But inflation refuses to fully return into the 1-3% target. It will be interesting to see if there’s still one member, Andrew Sentance that wants a rate hike. If others join in his concern of high inflation and vote for a rate increase, the GBP/USD could rise above the short term high of 1.5730.
13:00 GMT: EUR- Belgium NBB Business Climate
This wide survey of 6000 businesses has improved in recent months but remains negative, meaning that the business conditions are expected to worsen. The previous output was -5.1 points. The survey will probably edge up, but still remain in negative territory at -5.0. EUR/USD support rests 1.3160. Resistance is found at the height of the June to August bullish move at 1.3333.
14:30 GMT: USD – Crude Oil Inventories
This data influences the price of petroleum products which affects inflation, but also impacts growth as many industries rely on oil to produce goods. Oil prices might decline to $74.30 before a government report that may show U.S. refineries operated at their lowest rate in five months, signaling less demand for crude to process into fuels.