Summary:

  • ECB minutes to be the main event of the day

  • Semi-important data from US labour market to be released in the early afternoon

  • OPEC will publish its monthly report today

Thursday is relatively calm in terms of macroeconomic readings. However, we will get one important release and that is the European Central Bank’s account of the latest meeting. It’s ECB’s counterpart of Fed minutes thus increased volatility on the euro may spur in the early afternoon. Apart from that, OPEC is expected to release its monthly report today (12:20 pm BST) thus oil traders may want to examine the paper carefully.

10:00 am BST – Eurozone, Industrial Production for February. The European industrial sector was doing quite well through 2017 experiencing the high pace of the output growth. However, last reading saw a significant slowdown as it slipped from 5.3% (revised up from 5.2%) YoY in December to 2.7% YoY in January. Keep in mind that almost each European industrial production reading is a subject to revision later on thus the final numbers for January may change. Market consensus suggests that the European industrial output grew at the pace of 3.8% YoY in February.

12:30 pm BST – ECB Account of Monetary Policy Meeting. After yesterday’s FED minutes that turn to be hawkish the time has come for the ECB to release its counterpart. Euro traders will analyze the paper carefully, especially after recent remarks from Nowotny suggesting rate hike. However, ECB has clarified that it was Nowotny’s personal opinion and not the stance of the Bank yet it may suggest that a more hawkish shift is taking place in the European Central Bank.

1:30 pm BST – US, Initial Jobless Claims. Semi-important piece of data from the US labour market. Last week we saw a strong pickup in the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance as the reading saw increase from 218k to 242k while the market consensus expected a moderate 225k. This time economists surveyed by Bloomberg herald a print of 2330k what would be a downside and sign of further labour market tightening. Volatility on the USD may spur yet the reaction may be limited.

Central bank speakers scheduled for today:

8:30 am BST – Norges Bank Governor Olsen

1:15 pm BST – ECB’s Coeure

4:30 pm BST – Norges Bank Deputy Governor Nicolaisen

5:00 pm BST – ECB’s Weidmann

8:00 pm BST – BoE Governor Carney

10:00 pm BST – Fed’s Kashkari

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 The main currency pair is still a subject to range trading. Today’s ECB minutes may provide a boost for the euro. Source: xStation5