Forex Recap & Fundamental Outlook: Consumer Prices on tap for UK, US, Canada this week

By CountingPips.com

Last Week’s Recap & Notable Data Points:

Last week we saw the US dollar on the defensive against all of the other major currencies with overall declines against the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar for the week. The major out-performer was the British pound sterling as the GBP surged on expectations that the Bank of England could be the first of the major central banks to raise interest rates with UK economic data coming in better than expected recently.

David Song, Currency Analyst at DailyFX, summarized the upbeat GBPUSD outlook.

“The British Pound rallied to a fresh yearly high of 1.6722 following the Bank of England (BoE) Inflation Report, and the GBPUSD may press higher next week should the fundamental developments coming out of the U.K. highlight a stronger recovery for 2014. It seems as though the BoE removed the 7% unemployment threshold as jobless claims are expected to contract for 14 consecutive months in January, and the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting Minutes may spur a further shift in the policy outlook should we see a growing number of central bank officials show a greater willingness to normalize monetary policy sooner rather than later.”

Here are the major economic results from last week:

  • Australian employment change came in below expectations with a decline of 3.7 thousand jobs in January, the unemployment rate increased to 6.0%
  • United States advance retail sales fell by 0.4% in January compared to an expectation of a 0.1% decline
  • China’s consumer price index rose year-over-year by 2.5% in January just a tick above the market expectations of 2.4% rise
  • Eurozone GDP for the 4th quarter increased by 0.5% year over year and beat market expectations of a 0.4% rise
  • French 4th quarter GDP rose by 0.8%, German 4th quarter GDP rose by 1.4% – both YOY readings beat market forecasts
  • US University of Michigan consumer confidence survey came in at 81.2 score and  surpassed market expectations of an 80.2 rating

This Week’s Outlook: Consumer Prices on tap for UK, US, Canada this week

The top economic releases of the week include data from the UK, Japan, Canada and the United States. Early in the week, we will see the Japanese GDP report for the 4th quarter of 2013 with a forecast for a 0.7 percent increase. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom consumer price index is scheduled for release while the German ZEW economic survey is also released from the Eurozone. Wednesday will have interest rate meeting minutes from both the UK and the US – both could have an impact on the markets. Thursday, we have the United States consumer price index and on Friday we have the consumer price index out of Canada.

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s major economic highlights:

Sunday, February 16
Japan — GDP report

Monday, February 17 – US/Canada Holiday
Japan — Bank of Japan monetary policy

Tuesday, February 18
United Kingdom — consumer price index
Eurozone — German ZEW economic survey
United States — net long term TIC flows

Wednesday, February 19th
United Kingdom — weekly jobless claims
United Kingdom — Bank of England minutes
United States — housing starts/building permits
United States — Federal Reserve meeting minutes

Thursday, February 20
China — HSBC manufacturing PMI
Switzerland — trade balance
United States — consumer price index
United States — weekly jobless claims
United States — Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey
United States — leading indicators

Friday, February 21
United Kingdom — retail sales
Canada — consumer price index
Canada — Bank of Canada CPI core
United States — existing home sales

Please see our full calendar for a complete listing of economic events.

 

 

 

FX_Trdr

11 years ago