Summary:

  • Preliminary PMI for Germany and Eurozone to take the stage in the morning

  • DOE report in the spotlight after API pointed for a decrease of oil inventories

  • CPI from New Zealand to be released in the evening

In contrast to the last two days Wednesday’s calendar is full of a important macroeconomic releases. Preliminary PMI readings for the Germany and the Eurozone as a whole are going to be published in the morning. We will also get some data from the UK labour market. In the afternoon figures concerning US housing market will be released. Oil traders may want to stay cautious ahead of today’s DOE report as API showed a decrease of inventories yesterday. Last but not least, New Zealand’s CPI data is going to take the spotlight in the late evening.

8:30 am BST – Germany, Markit Manufacturing PMI for January. Index measuring a condition of the manufacturing sector in the Europe’s biggest economy. A reading above 50 indicates that the sector is expanding. German economy has been doing pretty well for some time as the last time manufacturing PMI print came in below 50 was in December 2014. This time market consensus calls for another strong reading of 63 what would be a little downside against 63.3 pts seen last time. However, one should keep in mind that this is just a preliminary release and the actual values will be published on the 1st of February.

9:30 am BST – UK, Jobless Claims Change for December. Data from the UK labour market showing a change in number of people receiving jobless claims. Last three readings has shown a modest increases. This time market consensus calls for an increase of 5.4K against 5.9K seen last month.

3:00 pm BST – US, Existing Home Sales for December. A measure showing number of existing residential buildings that were sold during the prior month. It helps estimate condition of the US housing market and the overall strength of the economy. The last three readings came out better than forecasts. This time surveyed economists point for the 5.7M increase against 5.81M seen last month.

3:30 pm BST – US, Crude Oil Inventories. Yesterday’s API report surprised investors with the first increase in oil stocks in 2 months. This is in line with seasonality as it shows that we have entered a period when inventories tend to rise. This can undermine the current price rally on the oil market. Will today’s DOE report confirm this bearish signal for the oil prices? Market consensus calls for another decrease of 1.003M.

9:45 pm BST – NZ, CPI for Q4. An important reading for the New Zealand’s economy. CPI measures are often used by central banks in determining future monetary policy. In QoQ terms inflation is expected to slow down a little as the market consensus points for a reading of 0.4% against 0.5% seen in the Q3. In YoY terms CPI dynamics are expected to remain on their current level of 1.9%. Reading like that would be in line with the current RBNZ inflation target that is set between 1 and 3 percent while trying to keep it as close to 2% as possible.

Central banks speakers scheduled for today:

10:30 am BST Riksbank’s Floden

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NZD was outperforming USD quite severely as of late. Will today’s data change this trend? Source: xStation5