The calendar is crowded today with major releases: Australian jobs, a rate decision in Switzerland and important figures in the US are the highlights today. Let’s see what’s up.
As seen in the Non-Farm Payrolls and also beforehand, the commodity currencies continue to show strength while the Euro and the Pound are weak. This will probably continue, although the Euro seems to be stabilizing.
After making a move upwards, Australia provides a strong start for the day. MI Inflation Expectations provide a warm up hinting about inflation. The main course is the employment data: Australia’s Employment Change rose only 400, when the economists had expected a gain of 15,000 jobs, and the Unemployment Rate rose slightly to 5.3%. For the Aussie’s technical levels, check out the AUD/USD forecast.
In Europe, France begins the day with the release of the final Non-Farm Payrolls for Q4. French Non-Farm Payrolls dropped 0.1%, less than the expected drop of 0.4%. Also in Europe, the ECB Monthly Bulletin was released and provided an indicator about the whole region. The Euro’s technical situation is stabilizing. Will it rise? Check out more on the Euro in the EUR/USD forecast, and in Casey Stubbs’ latest analysis.
British Consumer Inflation Expectations rose slightly to 2.5% in February, as the inflation rises in Britain. The Pound is sliding down once again, after another credit warning from Fitch. The Pound’s greater limits remain 1.4770 and 1.5350. It sticks to this range at the moment. Read more in the GBP/USD forecast.
In Switzerland, the central bank announced that it will keep the interest rate unchanged at 0.25%.
Moving to North America, Canada’s Trade Balance is expected to shift from a deficit to a surplus of $0.4 billion. The U.S. Trade Balance will be released at the same time and will probably show the same deficit as last month – $40.2 billion.
At the same time, 13:30 GMT, U.S. Unemployment Claims are released. They’re expected to drop from 469K to 453K, still within the same range as in recent weeks. This is the first jobless claims release after the NFP, and it will probably move the markets.
Canadian events aren’t over: the NHPI (New Housing Price Index) is predicted to rise by 0.5%, similar to the previous month. Later in Canada, BOC governor Mark Carney will make a public appearance and can also move the loonie.
USD/CAD is struggling to break below 1.02. This 2009 low is a tough and critical spot. For more on the Canadian dollar, read the USD/CAD forecast.
In New Zealand, the day after the rate decision brings another significant release: retail sales. After remaining unchanged last month, they’re expected to rise by 0.3% this time.
That’s it for today. Happy forex trading!
Yohay Elam is the owner of Forex Crunch, a blog about the foreign exchange market. It includes tutorials, basics of the forex market, daily and weekly forex analysis, technical analysis, forex software posts, and whatever is related to Forex.
Article copyrighted by Yohay Elam. Content published with author's permission.
