Summary:

  • Final Q4 reading of Eurozone’s GDP to be released in the morning

  • Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision in the afternoon

  • Will today’s DOE report confirm a huge build in inventories suggested by API?

Wednesday’s main market event is unquestionably Bank of Canada interest rate decision therefore one may expect increased volatility on the CAD tied FX pairs in the afternoon. Moreover, API report on the US labour market will be also released. Oil traders will stay cautious ahead of the DOE report after API signalled a major build in oil stockpiles. It is also worth to note that half an hour past noon UK Annual Budget will be released.

10:00 am BST –  Eurozone, GDP for Q4. A final reading concerning Eurozone’s combined GDP for the last quarter of 2017. The EMU bloc pace of growth has been picking up constantly through last years. This time economists surveyed by Bloomberg point for a little slide to 2.7% YoY against 2.8% YoY seen in the Q3 2017. The expectations are in line with the second preliminary reading that was released on 14th of February.

1:15 pm BST – US, ADP Nonfarm Employment Change for February. The pace of the US labour market tightening in the post-crisis era is impressive. The unemployment rate fell from roughly 10% at the end of 2009 to 4.1% in 2018. This is important as it may lead to increase of wages what in turn may lead to increased inflationary pressure. Today’s report can be used as a predictor as it released two days ahead of the government report. Market consensus calls for an increase of 200k against 234k seen last time.

3:00 pm BST – Canada, Interest Rate Decision. The latest macro data from the Canadian economy deteriorated somewhat. The markets price in the next rate hike no sooner than May thus we may expect that Canadian central bankers will leave the rate unchanged today. Therefore the statement that will be released along with the decision may catch investors’ attention as they will analyzed it carefully to see if BoC plans to keep up with the pace of Fed monetary tightening.

3:30 pm BST – US, Crude Oil Inventories. Yesterday’s API report has shown a huge build in the oil inventories at the level of 5.66 million barrels. The reading fell short of the market expectations quite significantly as market consensus called for an increase of just 2.7 million barrels. Today’s DOE report is expected to show an increase of 2.19 million barrels. However, investors will also focus on the US oil production figures after yesterday’s report showed diminishing gasoline stockpiles thus increased demand from US refineries may surface in the nearby future.

Central bank speakers scheduled for today:

1:00 pm BST – Fed’s Bostic

1:20 pm BST – Fed’s Dudley

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 CAD remained under pressure as of late. Will central bankers help currency recover? Source: xStation5