Forex Daily Outlook – May 19th 2009

Many important figures are released today: British CPI,  German ZEW Economic Sentiment, US Building Permits and Japanese Prelim GDP form a big load of data to shake the forex markets. And there’s more…

Australia’s  Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes starts the day. After Glenn Stevens’ speech, this will be another insight on the RBA’s view of the strong Australian economy. The AUD/USD will move strongly during the Asian session.

In Japan, the  Revised Industrial Production is predicted to stay at a rise of 1.6%.

In Britain,  CPI is still expected to be normal, with an annually adjusted rise of 2.4%. A higher value will send GBP/USD upwards.  Core CPI is expected to stay stable, at 1.7%, and RPI (Retail Price Index) is expected to drop by 1.2% in the UK.

In Europe,  German ZEW Economic Sentiment is a highly regarded figure, and it’s expected to rise to 20 points, from 13. Last week’s figures from Europe were bad, so this figure could be worse. Also note the all-European  ZEW Economic Sentiment which bis predicted to show a rise from 11.8 to 14.3.

In the US,  Building Permits are expected to stay stable at 0.53 million, and Housing Starts are predicted to rise slightly, from 0.51M to 0.52M. American housing is now stable, off the bottom, but the road to recovery is still narrow.

In Canada,  BOC Deputy Governor John Murray will speak at a conference in  Philadelphia. This is the first event for the loonie in this important week for USD/CAD.

Just before midnight GMT, Japan will publish the  Prelim GDP for the first quarter of 2009. The Japanese economy has shown great weakness – the first quarter will show a contraction of 4.2%. Also note the  Prelim GDP Price Index in the land of the rising sun.

Happy forex trading!