In the US, Empire State Manufacturing Index, monthly survey to value the general business conditions, rise is predicted from 9.5 points on December up to 10.7 now.

British QE expansion is likely in February, and more and more QE means more money printing, and this eventually takes its toll in devaluing the currency.

Core CPI dropped from 3.4% to 3.2%, a bit lower than 3.3% that was predicted. On the other hand, the Retail Price Index (RPI), which is of importance, dropped from 5.4% to 5.2%, while a drop to 5.2% was expected.

GBP/USD is bouncing higher following this release, but all in all, it came within expectations.

In the US, Producer Price Index (PPI), important consumer inflation sign that value the producer’s goods and services prices, about to reduce from 0.8% on October down to -0.1%, and the Core PPI (not including energy and food) is due to decrease from  0.2% down to 0.1%.

Britain’s trade deficit leaped to almost 10 billion and weighed on the pound. On the other hand, manufacturing was OK, at least during September. Conditions are expected to worsen later on.

As inflation is eroding the value of the currency, the Bank of England has the opposite of expected policy: a looser policy. Together with rising unemployment, Britain’s “misery index” is quite high, and the pound suffers.

In the US, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman, is expected to lecturer in Boston.

While the rise in jobless claims was smaller than expected, the unemployment situation remains very worrying in Britain. Also manufacturing continues to slump. A point of light was a smaller trade balance deficit.

While this may delay the next QE move, not all is rosy in Britain. British trade balance disappointed with a large deficit of 8.9 billion.