While it's a relatively quiet day ahead, retail sales figures for Canada and the UK, and ECB Lagarde will be in focus today.
It is a relatively busy start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Japanese Yen and the Kiwi Dollar were in action in the early hours.
Inflation figures for December were in focus this morning. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, Japan’s annual core rate of inflation held steady at 0.5% in December. Economists had forecast an annual core rate of inflation of 0.6%.
The Japanese Yen moved from ¥113.933 to ¥114.013 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was up by 0.17% to ¥113.920 against the U.S Dollar.
In December, the Business PMI rose from 50.6 to 53.7. The PMI had fallen from 54.3 to 50.6 in November.
The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.67557 to $0.67520 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.13% to $0.6748.
At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was down by 0.17% to $0.7214.
It’s a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. There are no material stats due out of the Eurozone to provide the EUR with direction.
On the monetary policy front, ECB President Lagarde is scheduled to speak, however. Expect any shift in stance on inflation to draw interest.
At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.04% to $1.1316.
It’s a busy day ahead on the economic calendar. UK retail sales figures for December will be in focus going into the European session. The markets will be looking for numbers to support further moves by the BoE following December’s inflation figures on Wednesday.
At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.02% to $1.3597.
It’s a particularly quiet day ahead, with no major stats due out of the U.S to provide direction.
On Thursday, the U.S Dollar Spot Index rose by 0.24% to end the day at 95.735.
It’s a busy day ahead, with December retail sales the key stat of the day. House price figures are also due out but should have a muted impact on the Loonie. With the Bank of Canada in action next week, positive numbers will give the Loonie another boost.
At the time of writing, the Loonie was down by 0.06% to C$1.2510 against the U.S Dollar.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.
With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.