A Busier Economic Calendar Puts the Pound, the EUR, and the Greenback in Focus

Earlier in the Day:

It was a relatively quiet start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Kiwi Dollar was in action early this morning.

For the Kiwi Dollar

Electronic card retail sales and business PMI numbers were on focus.

In November, electronic card retail sales rose by 9.6%, month-on-month, following a 10.0% jump in October.

According to NZ Stats,

• Spending on durables jumped by NZ$331m (22.9%), with apparel sales up NZ$119m (53.5%).
• Fuel sales increased by NZ$49m (9.9%), with motor vehicles (excl. fuel) up NZ$19m (10.0%).
• Bucking the trend, however, was a NZ$14m (0.6%) fall in consumables.

Business numbers were also upbeat. In November, the Business PMI decreased from 54.3 to 50.5.

According to the According to the latest survey,

• New orders picked up, with the sub-index rising from 54.2 to 54.7, which was the only positive.
• Production rose at a softer pace, with the sub-index falling from 53.2 to 52.2.
• Employment levels declined, with the employment sub-index falling from 51.7 to 48.2.
• Finished stocks and deliveries also saw contractions, with the respective sub-indexes falling to 48.3 and 42.9 respectively. The deliveries sub-index had stood at 59.9 in October.

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.67915 to 0.67928 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.01% to $0.6794.

Elsewhere

At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was up by 0.02% to ¥113.470 against the U.S Dollar, while the Aussie Dollar was down by 0.04% to $0.7146.

The Day Ahead

For the EUR

It’s a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. Finalized November inflation figures for Germany are due out. Barring a revision from prelim, however, there should be limited impact on the EUR. ECB President Lagarde continues to stand by the transitory outlook.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.01% to $1.1294.

For the Pound

It’s a busy day ahead on the economic calendar. Industrial and manufacturing production and GDP numbers are due out along with trade data.

Expect the manufacturing production and GDP numbers to be key.

At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.02% to $1.3218.

Across the Pond

It’s a busy day ahead. November inflation and prelim December consumer sentiment figures are due out.

With the FED in action next week, expect plenty of market sensitivity to today’s inflation figures. Another spike and the markets may begin considering more than a faster tapering to the bond purchasing program.

On Thursday, the Dollar Spot Index rallied by 0.34% to end the day at 96.221.

For the Loonie

It’s another particularly quiet day ahead on the economic data front. There are no major stats to consider, leaving the Loonie in the hands of market risk sentiment.

At the time of writing, the Loonie was up by 0.04% to C$1.2708 against the U.S Dollar.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.