Summary:

  • SEK traders will pay close attention to the Swedish CPI print in the morning

  • German ZEW print expected to show deterioration of moods

  • A preliminary Eurozone consumer confidence print about to be release in the afternoon

After a calm Monday in terms of macro releases came rather calm Tuesday. We do not have many top-tier readings scheduled for today. In the morning Swedish CPI and German ZEW is going to be published while in the afternoon preliminary consumer confidence print for Eurozone will take the stage. Moreover, EU finance ministers will meet in the afternoon to discuss issues related to the EU budget and the appointment procedure of the ECB Executive Board member.

8:30 am BST – Sweden, CPI Inflation for January. As Riksbank keeps one of the lowest interest rates in the world SEK traders will watch inflation readings closely in order to assess whether the first rate hike is at hand or not. Swedish inflation has been accelerating for some time now. The previous print has shown a little deceleration from 1.9% YoY to 1.7% YoY moving Swedish CPI further from Riksbank target at 2%. This time economists surveyed by Bloomberg call for a reading of 1.8% YoY.

10:00 am BST – Germany, Zew Economic Conditions for February. An index measuring the half-year outlook of the German economy. Positive readings express optimism while negative ones show pessimism among 350 surveyed institutional investors. We have not seen an print below 0 since mid-2016. This time market consensus points for a reading of 16 pts against 20.4 pts seen last month.

3:00 pm BST – Eurozone, Consumer Confidence for February. An index measuring sentiment across the EMU countries. After a long time of negative readings we have finally seen some positive. In November 2017 the print has shown above 0 value for the first time since the turn of millenia. This time market consensus points for a slowdown to 1 from 1.3 seen last time. However, one should keep in mind that this is just a preliminary print and the actual one will be published on 27th of February.

Central banks speakers scheduled for today:

11:30 am BST – Riksbank’s Flodenlink do file download link

SEK has been struggling against EUR as of late. However, today’s inflation print may help Swedish krone catch second breath. Source: xStation5