The upcoming week features a few major releases: German Ifo Business Climate and CBI Realized Sales on Tuesday, British Revised GDP and American Existing Home Sales on Wednesday, British Nationwide HPI and Core Durable Goods Orders on Thursday and the American Prelim GDP on Friday. And of course there’s lots more.
After gaining throughout the whole week just to lose everything on the week’s dieing hours, the fate of the dollar during next week sure is mysterious…
Sunday, February 22nd: Also this week, there something notable on Sunday: ECB’s Jean Claude Trichet will speak about the upcoming G-20 meeting. If he says something notable, EUR/USD could start the week with a weekend gap.
Monday, February 23rd: Apart from a followup speech from Trichet, the main release of the day comes from Canada: Retail Sales and Core Retail Sales will be published there. It could move USD/CAD like Friday’s British figure did for the pound.
Near the end of the day, Japanese Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes will be of interest, especially after the USD/JPY moved on last week’s terrible Japanese GDP figure.
Tuesday, February 24th: Swiss Employment Level and the UBS Consumption Indicator will warm up the day. And later, German Ifo Business Climate will be the main dish for breakfast. British CBI Realized Sales will be interesting after the surprise in Retail Sales.
In the US, CB Consumer Confidence is expected to go further down, to 36 points. Also Ben Bernanke’s testiment will be closely watched by traders, in the wake of Obama’s stimulus package implementation.
Wednesday, February 25th: Early in the day, Australian Construction Work Done and Wage Price Index will be watched by Aussie traders. Quarterly Inflation Expectations will be released later in Australia’s neighbor, New Zealand.
British Revised GDP will be the morning star. It’s expected to fall by 1.6%.
Later in America, Existing Home Sales are predicted to be stable at 4.8 million. Traders will also tune up to the second day of Bernanke’s testiment in the House Financial Services Committee.
New Zealand also closes the day, with the monthly Trade Balance. It’s expected to fall by 450 million.
Thursday, February 26th: Also Thursday begins early down under. Australian Private Capital Expenditure is expected to fall by a whopping 3%. NBNZ Business Confidence is a mjor indicator for the economy in New Zealand.
Interesting data from Germany is due on Thursday: GfK German Consumer Climate, Prelim CPI and Unemployment Change will be published in the morning.
In Britain, traders will focus on the Nationwide HPI, expected to fall yet again. British houses continue to devalue. BOE Governor Mervyn King might clarify the state of the British economy in speech later in the day.
In the US, Durable Goods Orders and Core Durable Goods Orders will be in the limelight. Both are expected to fall. Also Unemployment Claims are due to be disappointing, but stable – still above 600K.
New Home Sales, expected to be stable at 330K and a speech by President Barack Obama are also going to shake the markets.
New Zealand’s Building Consents will close the day for kiwi traders. In Japan, lots of data will be released at the end of Thursday: Prelim Industrial Production is the most important one, expected to drop by 10%. Wow! Also Household Spending and Tokyo Core CPI will be of interest.
Friday, February 27th: European CPI is expected to show a rise in yearly figures. More in the morning is the Swiss KOF Economic Barometer.
In North America, Canadian Current Account, RMPI and IPPI will be of interest.
And the main star of the whole week is the American Prelim GDP. A fall of 5.4% is expected there. A little before the bell rings on the whole week, Chicago PMI will be closely watched.
Have a great week!