Due to Good Friday, today is packed with lost of figures. The main event of today is the new British Official Bank Rate and accompanying statement. Employment figures from Australia and Canada, and Trade Balance in North America will be of interest to traders. Let’s dive into the packed calendar…
Australian employment data was disappointing: Employment Change fell by 34.7K, more than 24.8K that was expected. Also Unemployment Rate leaped to 5.7%, significantly more than 5.4% that was predicted. Also Australia’s strong economy suffers from employment problems. AUD/USD continues to trade at the same range, currently at 0.7110.
In Switzerland, Unemployment Rate rose to 3.3%, as expected. German Final CPI fell by 0.1% as expected. Italian Industrial Production plunged by 3.5%, much more than expected. Later in Europe, German Industrial Production is expected to drop by 2.9%, less than 7.5% lst month. Where is the Euro going?
Britain’s MPC is expected to leave the Official Bank Rate unchanged, at 0.5%. Quantitative Easing of 75B pounds was already declared in Britain. Will this policy continue? Will it stop? This will be announced in the MPC Rate Statement that will be released with the new rate. GBP/USD will shake after the statement. Will the Pound continue the comeback?
British PPI Input added to inflation fears: it rose by 1%, contrary to 0.9%, also revised upwards. British Trade Balance was also relatively good, with a deficit of only 7.3B.
In Canada, Employment Change is expected to drop by 50K jobs. The Unemployment Rate is expected to rise from 7.7% to 8%, still less than the US.
If we’re already comparing the US and Canada, Trade Balance in both countries is published at 12:30 GMT. Learning from previous events, USD/CAD will shake during these releases. The deficit in Canada is expected to be 1.3B, while American deficit is expected to stand at 36.6B. These figures are usually published on Friday.
Weekly Unemployment Claims in America are expected to stay stable at 665K. The job market in the US hasn’t reached the bottom.
Also in the US, Import Prices are expected to rise by 0.9%.
There are very few figures on Friday, but I’ll report on them anyway…
Happy Forex Trading!
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