Forex Daily Outlook – August 20th 2009

British Retail Sales and American Unemployment Claims are the highlights today. Let’s see what’s on the calendar.

Yes, Australia starts the day again, this time with the  RBA Monthly Bulletin. After the release of the  Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes, this probably won’t add to much. Yesterday, the MI Leading Index moved the Aussie.  For more on the Australian dollar, read the Aussie Outlook.

Swiss  Trade Balance is predicted to show a rise in the surplus, from 1.57 billion to 1.69. Later in Switzerland,  ZEW Economic Expectations is released.

British Retail Sales have shown a nice rise last time – 1.2%. This time, the rise is predicted to be more modest – 0.4%. This will seriously move GBP/USD. Also in  Britain,  Public Sector Net Borrowing is expected to show a decline in the government’s spending.

For more on the British Pound, read the GBP/USD Outlook.

In the US, weekly  Unemployment Claims are expected to show only a small improvement after last week’s disappointment – from 558K to 548K.

The  Philly Fed Manufacturing Index is released later, and it’s expected to be less negative than last time.

Canadian  Wholesale Sales are expected to dip by 0.1%, less than last time.  The BOC Review will be published later and will conclude the Canadian releases for this week.

For more on the loonie, read the Canadian Dollar Outlook.

That’s it. Happy forex trading!