Summary:
- Swedish inflation data on the agenda
- UK labour market report scheduled for this morning
- German ZEW index will be released ahead of a Friday’s Ifo publication
Tuesday looks quite interesting when we take a look into economic releases. The morning seems to be especially busy as three noteworthy readings are scheduled. First of all, investors will be offered Swedish CPI for January. On top of that, the UK labour market report will be released. Apart from that, Germany’s ZEW index is scheduled as well.
8:30 am GMT - Sweden, CPI for January: Riskbank is expected to deliver another rate hike in the second half of the year, hence inflation data seems to be especially important in months to come. The market consensus expects that Sweden’s Consumer Price Index increased to 2.2% in January.
9:30 am GMT - UK, Labour Market Report: The United Kingdom has had almost nothing to reach a deal with the EU on Brexit. Thus no one should be surprised that developments related to this topic gather most of investors’ attention. Nevertheless, a quick look into labour market could help us assess the economic situation just weeks ahead of possible hard Brexit scenario. Expectations suggest that the UK unemployment rate remained at 4% in December, and jobless claims dropped from 20.8k to 12.3k in January
10:00 am GMT - Germany, ZEW Economic Sentiment: The ZEW index is not as important as Ifo index which will be released on Friday. However, today’s release could provide some hints ahead of a Friday’s Ifo publication. It’s expected to show an uptick to -14 from -15 for February. Let us remind that the ZEW index has experienced two consecutive increases in the recent months.
Central bank speakers scheduled for today:
- 10:15 am GMT - ECB’s Guindos
- 11:30 am GMT - Riksbank’s Ingves
- 1:50 pm GMT - Fed’s Mester
- 3:00 pm GMT - ECB’s Praet
Major US companies reporting earnings today:
- Walmart (WMT.US)
- Medtronic (MDT.US)
The GBPUSD dropped to around 1.28, but the currency pair has managed to recoup a part of losses ever since. The pair is trading a little above 1.29 and moving a little above its 50-period moving average (a light green line) on the D1 chart on Tuesday morning. Source: xStation5