Forex Daily Outlook – February 24 2011

Very busy day especially in the US: Unemployment Claims, New Home Sales and more .Let’s see what awaits us today.

In the US, Unemployment Claims, number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week; is about to reduce by 5K. Important signal of overall economic health since consumer spending is highly correlated with labor-market conditions.

Later in the US, New Home Sales, new single-family homes that were sold during the previous month is about to rise by 1K. Leading indicator of economic health since it triggers a wide-reaching ripple effect.

Later on in the US,   Durable Goods Orders, value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers for durable goods; is about to rise by 4.7%, while the Core Durable Goods Orders (excluding transportation items) is about to reduce by 0.4%. It’s a leading indicator of production sine rising purchase orders signal that manufacturers will increase activity as they work to fill the orders.

More in the US, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser due to speak about the economic outlook at the Rotary Club, in Birmingham. Audience questions expected.

Finally in the US, Crude Oil Inventories is due to remain 0.9& like on the previous month. It influences the price of petroleum products which affects inflation, but also impacts growth as many industries rely on oil to produce goods.

For more on USD/CAD, read the Canadian dollar forecast.

In Great Britain, Nationwide House Price Index (HPI, price of homes with mortgages backed by Nationwide; UK’s second earliest report on housing inflation and due to remain -0.1%.

More in Great Britain, CBI Realized Sales, Survey of about 160 retail and wholesale companies whi to rate the relative level of current sales volume; indicates higher sales volume of 30 points.

Finally in Great Britain, GfK Consumer Confidence, Survey of about 2,000 consumers to rate the relative level of past and future economic conditions, indicates pessimism with -27 points.

Read more about the Pound in the GBP/USD forecast.

In Switzerland, Employment Level, employed people during the previous quarter remain similar to the previous quarterly, 4.10M.

In Japan, National & Tokyo  Core CPI, price of goods and services purchased by consumers in Tokyo, excluding fresh food; are about to reduce by 0.1%. Rising prices lead the central bank to raise interest rates

That’s it for today. Happy forex trading!

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